What if?
by thatsonehappychick
Summary: Sid adopts a new child with Diego's help.
1. Chapter 1

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Disclaimer~ I do not own any ice age characters this is just a funny thought that went too far.

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Things had soon settled back to normal amongst the herd, with the exception of the extra energy and enthusiasm that only a new baby could bring.

It wasn't long however before Sid again became restless. Helping his friends was easy as a lot of perseverance and love seemed to cure all. His own nagging discontent however was proving to be a lot more problematic.

Sid wanted his own family. He wanted it now!

Only Sid's inability to attract and keep a mate was holding him back. This was step one in achieving one's own family. Sid's mind was however stuck in step ten playing with ones adoring children, which was scaring every hopeful contender away. He really did not have the patience to allow things to happen in their own time as Manny suggested time and time again.

Elle understood what it was like to be so alone. After all she had had no luck with every male possum she tried to form a relationship with when she was growing up. She had given up eventually after failing to reach even first base in months of aggressive flirting during the last mating season. Now that she was a mammoth she had been successful in finding love, thanks partly/mostly to Sid bringing the two mammoths together despite themselves. She sorely wished she could do the same for him, but Manny seemed right in his view that Sid really was an impossible case.

Sid's defeated form lay dramatically slouched under a tree where the three mammoths grazed. Diego lay beside him. They made a good couple as the cat could sleep for eighteen hours a day and Sid could sulk for roughly that time, pausing only to play with Peaches (under Manny's watchful eye all the other kids wanted to kill Sid, as did most mammals, Manny included!) and gather food to eat during his long sulks.

Diego had no trouble with the opposite sex. Females approached him as they loved the wild rouge image. He, however had no intension of settling down. He had done the whole pack life thing, and preferred the freedom and adventure herd life offered.

Manny looked around to see Elle contemplating Sid, he had spent far too much time moping. Peaches was old enough to travel now, he decided it was time to go.

"Elle gather your brothers, I think it's time to move on."

"Already?"

"Yeah, I think the walking and a change of scenery will do us ALL good."

"Hmm, maybe it will, there may be some new adventure awaiting us in the next valley!" She joked as she nudged her husband playfully.

"Let's hope not!" He replied with real feeling. He had been seriously enjoying his down time with his new family lately. As much as he loved Sid he was in no mood for anymore of his weird adventures.

Diego went from supposed deep sleep to full alertness as his ears pricked with the whispered words adventure. "Come on Sloth, time to move." He gently pushed Sid with a paw.

"Sure sure I'm right behind you." Came Sid's reply as he sat unmoving.

Diego was not putting up with any of this. In a pack you moved regardless of whether you wanted to or not it just wasn't healthy to mope. He pulled Sid up by the scruff and set him on his feet before shoving him forward. Together they set off for new horizons.

After a few miles an eerie silence seemed to desend over the herd. The pine forest to the right appeared to be a little too dark, and the glacier walls to the left felt to be steering them on a predetermined course. Manney's hair began to stand on end. He looked to Diego , who sensed his unease. He scanned their surroundings listening and sniffing at the air.

"Nothing has been through here for days, but I can scout ahead if you like?"

"No I'm sure it's nothing. " Manny picked up Sid and set him on his back "Come on Sid the....." He struggled for a word that would fit, "The despondent, let's get a move on out of this valley."

A little further on Diego smelt the distinctive smell of blood and ash. Man.

"Humans have been through here. It might not be pretty up a head."

Manny paused, that was why he was feeling so edgy, he remembered his first encounter with man where he had lost everything dear to him. His silence caused the rest of the herd to pause, this was tough for him, they all understood.

Sid's silence however was down to the slow workings of his brain. The gloomy image did not really suit him as he had not been involved, so he skipped that and headed towards the fun encounter they had had with man. He could feel the excitement building within and blurted out, "Hey maybe its pinkie's herd!" Sid quickly became attuned to the mood as he heard the distinctive sound only six sets of eye balls make when rolling in unison. "Or maybe not! Anyway I wonder how our lil' Pinkie's t is doing?"

"Perhaps you would like to go on ahead and ask?"

"Ah, no I am sure he's fine." He was as scared of man as the next; even their sticks had it in for him.

"So who's Pinkie?" Elle asked.

"Just some kid me and Sid saved" Manny replied quickly" He got uh, lost from his heard, so we returned him, I doubt it will be his herd Sid, and I really doubt he would remember us."

Sid's spirits sank, he had loved Pinkie, those were good times.

Quietly and cautiously, they continued on.

The human camp site was an obvious scar on the landscape. Disturbed ground, black ash stains and debris littered the ground, the main thing was that it was empty.

Diego assumed it was only a temporary camp as judging by the strong scent of blood something big had been hunted here and they must have needed time to complete whatever it was they did with such large kills.

Huge boulders protruded from between the trees creating potholes and caves, the biggest one of these had been the scene of the hunt. Curious to learn a little more of their mysterious ways Diego ventured closer to the abandoned camp to investigate. The animal had been feline, and with cub, but not tiger. Possibly a cave lion, after all they were far north enough now to encroach on their territory. He felt a shiver rundown his spine cave lions were far bigger than sabres and also hunted mammoths in packs. If like sabres they cubed alone returning to the pride when the cubs were five weeks old then they were now in dangerous territory. For once He was glad the humans had eliminated this cat and hoped they would be successful in finding the rest of the pride.

"We had better move on fast."

"Sounds good to me, Crash, Eddie put down that human stuff before it kills you, and let's just please get moving."

The twins had discovered an abandoned hat and were trying it on while doing impressions of Manny. Peaches giggled at their antics."Just how is this supposed to kill us?

"Someone died to make that, someone possum sized." Diego taunted as he passed the boys. He grinned as realisation set in. The jaunty stripes were not too dissimilar to their own. Eddie threw the hat over Crash's head covering his eyes and raced to the safety of Elle's back.

"Urgh ugly zombie skin."Cried Eddie in jest, and then for real as he felt the hat bearing down on him. Quickly he wriggled free and raced to join crash "That was so unfunny Dude."

"What? I can't help if you scare easy!"

Sid was the only one to look back at Eddie's scream, He could have sworn the snow had moved or pounced on Eddie. Something here wasn't right. He felt drawn to trouble like nothing else and right now something was calling to him from within that particularly dark hole under an arrangement of boulders. He slid himself off of Manney's back catching his tail to drop gracefully into the snow.

Manny grimaced in pain as the fat sloth hung from his tail and bit back the desire to squash him in frount of Peaches. He had to be on his best behaviour around her since he noticed her mimicking his actions toward Sid with the other kids in the playground.

Slowly, after composing himself he turned to see Sid's backside protruding from between some precariously balanced boulders. His head was submerged completely in the cave formed by these heavy rocks. Just one knock and like a house of cards the pain in his ass would be formally known as Sid. He revelled wickedly in this thought for a minute before he was alerted to Diego rushing back to save Sid from his own stupidity.

He could not hear what they were saying but after Pulling Sid out roughly by the tail, Manny watched amazed as Diego crouched and crawled into the gap as far as he could! His eyes scanned up at to the thin layer of snow covering the boulder. Gracefully it began to fall gently down onto Sid and Diego below, as the rock ever so slightly shifted. Can they not see how unsteady the rocks were balanced?

The slow sound of grating stone shifting was a slow drawn out roar as Manny rushed in what seemed to take an eternity over to his friends and pull Diego out before the boulder landed neatly in the space he had a moment ago occupied.

Diego stared speechless as he realised how hard he had been pushing against the boulder to get under it a little further so as to reach his prize. He had just managed to reach it with his paws when Manny had pulled him free and now, whatever it was wriggled in his grip. Slowly he raised his paw to reveal a ball of white fur perfectly concealed in the snow. It was a cub. He gave it a sniff; it was a cave lion cub. It had survived the humans attack on its family and now sat frightened and lost looking up at him with big brown eyes. Diego wrinkled his nose in disgust at the cub and swiftly got up to go.

The cub turned his intense stare of utter hopelessness to Manny but his tiny size and white coat had meant that the mammoth had totally missed him. Last chance, he did not know what Sid was but he gave it his all and looked with total need to the smelly animal in front of him. If anything maybe he could eat it as it slept.

Well it was third time lucky as Sid scooped him up out of the snow and into a warm embrace.

Ellie saw the look of delight on Sid's face and smiled widely in response "who's this Sid?"

Manny squinted at the snow white ball and recognized it straight away as dangerous, his parents had told stories of huge white lions. "Sid put it down now!" He said sternly

"Buuuut Mannnyyyy!"Sid wailed

"No"

"Wait, what's wrong?"Came Ellie's voice

"No Sid IT is dangerous!"

"But!"

"No! And that's final cave lion's eat mammoth's!"

"But, So does Diego! And He's allowed in the herd"

"He would need a pack, that wouldn't."

Diego felt like protesting here, but felt wise not to.

"Maybe this one would be different; after all we're all a little odd here." Elle tried

"We would lose Peaches first, that is not a risk I am willing to take."

Manny turned and began to walk off ahead towards the brighter horizon as the valley opened up ahead.

Elle hung her head and turned to follow. "Sorry Sid."With her went Peaches, Crash and Eddie, leaving Diego, who tried not to look at Sid; instead he looked intently at his paws.

"Fine. Then I'm out of this heard! Me and snowball will be fine without you!"Sid Stood resolute, the cub hung glumly as his preferred dinner walked away, leaving him with something so smelly starving was again very likely.

Diego stood torn. Sid would do anything for the rest of them. He was an important member of this herd. It would be like being back in a pack to abandon him now. He had not been around for the whole egg episode like Manny and thought well if this is important to Sid, reluctantly he sighed" I'll help you."

Sid squealed with delight and crushed his friend fiercely.

"Sid" He gasped, as his breath was constricted "it's very young, we might not be able to save it."

"But we won't give up; we won't just abandon him because friends don't do that, not in this herd!"

"Oh heck, I'm with Sid on this." Elle turned from Manny's side and headed back.

"No way sis! Your mad!" Eddie leapt from her back to join Manny.

"And what about when it grows bigger and decides to eat you!" Manny called after her.

"It's only a baby! And besides it can no way be worse than those dinosaurs" came Elle's reply.

Sid held the cub aloft and stared lovingly up to his new baby. He breathed in deeply to prepare a solemn speech of 'friendship knows no bounds,' when he was caught off guard by the Sharpe little teeth gleaming back at him as the cub smiled. He squeaked instead" it will all work out ........I'm sure!" He added with a tad more certainty" Diego does not eat us and they must be practically cousins!"

Diego's hackles rose at the thought of this, but he stayed quiet. (Maybe it will die in the night with a little help).

"So what shall we do now?" Asked Ellie, after all this was now Sid's herd.

"Let's get going, come on Manny you can still tag along and see this all work out, I won't say I told you so or nothing"

Ellie could practically see steam fuming out of Manny's ears, and giggled as she followed Sid's slow lead. Eddie was for a moment torn between the Mammoths. Ellie was the best but Manny was right. Elle however would carry him so he hopped over to catch her up. Manny's frown deepened at this decision and reluctantly he followed. He soon found it difficult to drag meaningfully behind, as Sid's pace was so slow and caught up to walk with Ellie.

Sid plodded along carrying his now restless bundle. It wriggled, it squirmed, it had Sharpe little claws and evil little teeth, and to top it all off it was hungry! Something it expressed clearly as it chewed Sid's arm.

"Ow............... Ow!"

"You're holding it wrong."

"Snowball"

"You're still holding it wrong."

"Then maybe it's your turn to carry it"

"Snowball?"

"Ow!,Ow! Ow ! Here you carry him!" Like a hot potato Sid shoves his charge at Diego, Snowball makes a small 'ump!' sound as he hits the floor.

Diego looked horrified at the prospect of carrying a foreign cub.

"You did say that you would help Sid with that." Manny taunts as he passes. Diego sighed heavily, and l reached down to pick the cub up.

"NOOO! DON'T EAT HIM!"

Diego jumped back at the sound of Sid's scream of terror. "Sid!.......". Words failed him. Fighting back the urge to thump Sid he counted to ten before again attempting to pick the cub up. Snowball froze as the cage of teeth closed around him, and hung limp as he was carried, partly out of instinct, but mostly out of fear.

"Wow, he likes you!"

Angry silence.

"You know, I think you'd make a natural mother."

"Grrrr." He couldn't even swat Sid as walking required all four paws.

"I never knew you were this good with kids. Snowball looks soo happy with you carrying him. I feel guilty now not asking you to help with my kiddie day care thing".

Diego noticed the twins turn to face them, (if they dare join in, I will kill them! Them, Sid and Manny for being right). He glared at them perched on Elle's back, and growled.

Snowball shivered in fear and gulped.

"That's ok we can set up another kids club!"

"I think Diego would like that!" Chimed in Eddie, this was better than a pea shooter any day!

"Grrrrr."

"You would! You know I'm surprised that you don't have kids of your own if you're that keen on them. I always thought you were more the lone hunter type, you know, no ties, no responsibilities just you verses the world and stuff.

"Na, he'd like a whole pack of kids, He's just too ugly to find a mate."

"Grrrrrrr"

"No offence but, you are pretty ugly even for a predator."

"Grrrrrrrrrr!"

Snowball felt the teeth tighten a little and whimpered.

"Ahh, Snowball don't listen to them, not all predators are ugly! Guys your upsetting my baby! Quit it!" Sid threw a ball of snow missing them completely.

"Sorry Sid, we only meant to upset your mate not your kid as well."

"Guy's your going too far back there!" Elle warned

"Couldn't have one of your own, so you decided to adopt!"

"Manny I expected better from you!" She mock scolded.

"Oh that's ok, you see He remembers back when it was just the two of us, and we had a baby, and I suppose it's hard for him to accept that I've moved on now."

"You and Sid had a baby huh"

"No! It wasn't like that!"

"That's exactly how it was! Pinkie was our baby and Diego wanted to eat him and you would not let him."

"So why don't you tell us this story Hon? Because I'm confused you said that you all saved a baby"

"Uh well that's it really."

"Don't be modest, we had a great time. We travelled with Pinkie looking for his herd for ages in the worst weather, and Manny carried him and kept him warm and safe. And we fought off a pack of hungry tigers"

"How did it turnout?"

"Well we returned it to its herd, and that's that." Manny snapped.

"So it all ended well. I bet it will be the same for this little guy, in the mean time it sure is cute."

"What the cub, you won't think that soon when it's hungry."

"No I mean the pair of them, Sid and Diego bringing it up."

"Oh yeah, he won't commit to a female tiger but will commit to Sid, sweet! Nice one sis and I thought you were going to be boring on this!"

Diego spat the cub out."That's it. I'm not listening to this anymore".

"No, wait I can't do this alone!"

"It needs food Sid, just sit tight awhile." He stalked off

"Ah, so he goes to hunt and bring back fresh food for his family."Crash was not about to drop this game so easily.

"You know he could just eat possum"

"In his dreams."

"No I might feed you to him." Manny made to grab them. The twins dashed off of Elle and up into the canopy of the surrounding wood.

"This spot will do for tonight, Peaches has walked enough for one day." Manny pulled some branches down to browse, and settled down with his family.

Sid gathered a few leaves and made to settle with Snowball on a rock. He felt guilty eating when Snowball had been starving under that rock for so long, so tried to feed him the leaves. He pushed them into his snout, but Snowball's mouth would only open when Sid's arm or neck was close enough to be grabbed at.

Sid looked over at the mammoths eating together and a little doubt began to set in. Just then Diego returned with a dodo in his mouth.

"Wow that was quick."

"Easy prey, now do you want to feed him, or should I?" It was his turn to taunt.

"Weeell" Sid wasn't doing to back down easily,"How messy can it be?"

"A blood bath Sid, real messy, bits of meat and guts in your fur for weeks." Diego paused would anyone actually notice with Sid?"

They both stopped as a belch came from behind them. Snowball had devoured the entire bird.

"Ah there's my good little boy." Sid cooed.

"I'll just go feed myself then." Diego said mortified.

Snowball smiled contently in Sid's arms and yawned hugely.

As Manny and Elle lay side by side with their trunks curled around Peaches, Sid tried to curl lovingly around Snowball; his stomach did not do this apparently. He tried a few positions before settling on cuddling Snowball like a teddy while sucking his thumb.

When Diego returned he slept as far away from anyone as he possibly could. Sid was finally happy; the herd was still together, the cost to his self esteem however? What was he thinking?

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A bit rushed. This is my first fan fic ever, inspired by the fantastic SidxDiego stories on this site. Hope it makes someone out there laugh!


	2. the very next day

Don't own ect.....

Thanks for some lovely reviews! I felt encouraged to ramble on with this story, so here goes...... silly heads at the ready!

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Diego was woken early next morning by a soft nudging against his stomach. Lazily he looked around at the cub sitting beside him. It took a little while to remember why this odd coloured cub was here. Quickly his eyes flashed around the camp, the twins were fast asleep in the branches, Sid was snoring and the mammoths were lying still. The rare opportunity to put this cub straight on a few things presented itself. No, two mammoths were asleep, and he glanced back to the third. Peaches eyes were watching him. Her gaze seemed to be laden with meaning. If he was physic he would interpret the message behind a look as intense as this to be "if something were to happen I would know, and I would learn to talk and I would tattle. He let any sinister thought he might have had go with a sigh, and instead behaved nicely towards the cub. Well as nice as he could be. "So, you're hungry again already."

Snowball fixed him with a wanting stare, his big brown eyes alone could have sold ice to Eskimos but in this situation more was needed, so with a cute small paw he nudged Diego again and mewed.

"Milk? You are old enough to talk"

Snowball's eyes instantly filled with sorrow with a stinging flinch and fell away to look at the ground. Diego looked at the fuzzy crown and felt bad, really bad. This cub had been through hell, any ill will he might have felt melted and he complied with the Snowballs needs.

"Okay, let's go find some then."

Snowball gave a little skip of enthusiasm, forgetting his former distress in an instant and stumbled forwards with short clumsy cub steps as he set off away from the sleeping herd.

Diego paused, was he reading too much into these kids? Without a word that cub had just fed him the best lie he'd ever seen, and the kid only ate last night why the rush? He looked back to Peaches, her green eyes still watched from the safety of her parent's trunks. She was almost creepy, her cute face so angelic yet her eyes were taking everything in. Why? Was she just by chance awake or purposely watching? Calculating, Diego shook himself from this paranoia to catch up with Snowball, he really did not like kids.

Peaches watched them go. Watching was her favourite pastime, especially when no one knew. Usually only small stuff happened like sleep talk, or maybe a passing Scratt or two, but this morning had been very eventful........

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She had woken to see Snowball trying to fit Sid's head in his mouth!

She wriggled free from her parents warm embrace to put things right. She had been practicing her trunk coordination skills for months for a situation like this and now curled the end of this versatile weapon to form a fist. She marched up to Snowball, who on seeing her dropped Sid in favour of his more natural prey. Slowly they approached each other with an epic, if not miniature air of intensity. Kitten claws at the ready Snowball leapt at her full on, big mistake! she was not known as the baddest kid in the playground just for her size! And she sure wasn't going to be scared of milk teeth! She swung her trunk around in a mighty arc and whacked him around the ear in mid pounce sending him crashing head first into the dirt. Yes she was tough, but was also just, and allowed her foe to regain himself as if this was merely a friendly spar.

Snowball seethed. He marched right back to her and lifted a paw to strike, with ease Peaches took full advantage of his unbalanced form whipping her trunk around his extended paw and swung with all her might! She swung him till she was giddy, and let go.

Again he struck the dirt sliding and rolling until he came to a halt, gingerly he lifted his head to see three baby mammoths coming for him in a slow, around about, swaying way, and finally felt a pair of heavy furred feet pin him down. Pointing her trunk fist to his pink nose she held him there until finally he gave up struggling and lay still in defeat. Peaches freed him and watched him race over to Diego and begin shaking him awake, coolly she stood in the iconic mountain pose of the mammoth, a powerful stance, with her father as a back drop behind her albeit still asleep. Snowball unable to wake Diego quick enough looked around to see what she was up to, he met her eyes from across the camp, and read into her fearless frown," my dad's bigger than your dads". He glowered; he was defeated for now but vowed darkly to himself next time would be different!

Peaches took no pride from this triumph, she settled back into the warm comfort of her parents embrace so as to appear like nothing happened when they awoke, after all she was no tattle. She watched as Snowball quickly exited the camp with Diego and waited patiently for a while encase that Scratt showed up (the equivalent of morning cartoons) but fell asleep before long.

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Manny awoke from a peaceful dream and took in the beautiful new day. He looked over to Ellie and Peaches beside him and smiled, before looking around to do a quick head count, Crash and Eddie check; being mostly nocturnal they would now sleep in late, good! Sid, a bit chewed looking but at least not sulking anymore, lion cub gone, good and Diego probably be back later. All's well.

He looked back to his mate and daughter they looked so alike, especially when they slept. He could never find the words to describe how he felt for them, but the feeling he got when he woke every morning to see them beside him was overwhelming. He felt the change in Ellie's breathing as she slowly woke up.

"Mornin' Hon." Ellie yarned as she said this,"Sleep well?"

"Very, actually."

"Nothin' to do with Sid being happy taking a weight off of your mind?"

Manny Slipped out of his euphoria with a bump, he had not really thought about it; he had slept better. Better in fact than he had in a while and felt great this morning for it.

"Kids will do that to ya," Ellie continued to herself, stretching a little to wake her limbs.

"I don't think of him as my kid, like I said I think of him as my dog's kids pet, kind of thing." He quipped, trying to making light of that Sloths latest mishap.

"You love him." She giggled; he was so easy to tease.

"I endure him."

"You're too hard on him; after all we're together thanks to him."

"A few things work out from his meddling and everyone forgets all the stuff that goes wrong, and believe me a lot goes wrong."

"Ok, ok maybe a few of his projects go astray, but you still love him."

"When you become the new focus of his attention, and believe me he will find something to dig at, then you will know exactly how I feel about him."

"Well I can't wait; it must be nice to have someone care enough about you to notice the little things. But as I remember it, wasn't it you who felt it necessary to help me with my possum issues whether I wanted it or not?"

"That was different. It was important that you knew, you just can't be two things at once"

"More important than you learning NOT to be a cantankerous old mammoth? I think that the two of you are more alike than you would care to think."

"He has never called me cantankerous."

"Oop's not started on that little project yet then." Ellie remarked under her breath.

Just then Peaches stirred with a yawn"Why good morn'in honey." Ellie cooed. Peaches beamed up at her parents,"Maaaan!" She squealed.

"Wow, did you hear that Manny her first word!"

"That was no way a word."

"What did I just say about being too hard on your kids?"

"Good try Peaches; let's try that again, Maaanny."

"She was trying for Mum, come on Peaches Muuuuum." Peaches was not staying still for any longer, the new day had officially started and there were things to do, she got up and started to pull at her parents trunks to follow.

"Okay, breakfast time." Manny heaved himself up.

"Wait, no one will know where we've gone."

"They are not kids! They probably won't move till midday anyway," Manny picked Sid up and put him in the tree with Crash and Eddie," They will be perfectly safe till then, and we could do with some time alone. Come on, some quality time with our actual child, sound good?"

"Yes it does, but not too long, I worry." Ellie followed glancing back, this herd found trouble at every turn, of course she worried!

Sid woke to find his head wet and a tree branch poking rudely into his back. Not unusual, after all he had woken up in the past to find himself tied, gagged, kidnapped, on fire among other things. At least this tree was full of new blossom and leaves, a good spring salad for a sloth. He would worry about why he had been deserted by the rest of the herd after breakfast. The sun was by now high in the sky and it looked to be a nice spring day; He stretched out fully appreciating the warm sun's rays on his fur forgetting to worry about his new charge. He was too busy basking in the (familiar) warm glow being a new parent gave him. It was the best feeling on earth! A few feet below him Crash murmured something like "my sword" and "Quick!" to which Eddie's legs spun as if cycling upside down. Sid pondered if being twins they shared dreams? That would be cool! As he ate he called down random words to them and watched for reactions, this kept him entertained for most of the day.

* * *

Diego took Snowball up over the ice cliffs the herd had skirted around yesterday, (careful to avoid all ledges), to a territory that he knew was inhabited by a small pack of sabres. He had met several of them while hunting, and knew them to be friendly enough. Sara in particular had taken a shine to him, and they had talked several times about his adventures. He knew that she liked this rugged area and knew that it was that time of year for cubs, so he looked for clues as to where she might be denning. Up here it was cold and quiet, so it was not long before he picked up the rough and tumble of cubs playing and headed over to a rocky cave where he hoped Sara would be staying. As he neared he picked up her scent." Okay we're here, now stay close, stay quiet and get ready with that big eye trick, you're going to have to appeal to her mothering instincts if you don't want to get eaten." Snowball looked back at him a little uneasily. Diego pushed on regardless, he felt stupid enough as it was, and remembered this morning's cry baby scene to readily to fall for any tricks now.

"Hello Sara."

"Diego?" Sara looked up from her snooze on a sun drenched rock, "I thought you were moving on with your herd thing, don't tell me they discovered you weren't vegetarian and ditched you." Prey animals worth talking to, swimming and dinosaurs, she enjoyed these tales but did not believe a word of it. Instead she saw Diego as a little impaired, having spent too much time out on his own in the wilderness.

"Yeah I was, but something came up." He took a deep breath, "I need help feeding this cub." He looked away as he pushed Snowball forwards. It was strange enough him turning up with a cub at all, let alone a foreign one, maybe she would guess that he just hadn't noticed Snowball was a lion and be too polite to correct him on the matter.

"A lion cub, why would you? How did you....... "Words failed her, Diego really was loony tune crazy, but the eyes on that cub! She could not look away from those big brown pleading eyes.

"It's for a friend." This needed some explanation he was sure to get the ball rolling again as Sara had become transfixed in Snowballs gaze, a mixture of urgh and ahhh crossed her face too quickly to tell which way she might lean.

"A lion friend? You know they are savages right?"

"A Sloth friend, actually."

"Oh, of course! A lion friend would have been too easy. Seriously Diego don't you think it's time you got over whatever you're going through and were just a normal tiger again?"

Just the thought of returning to pack life sent a shiver down his spine," uh, maybe, but this is kinda important right now so please?"

"Mew?" said Snowball.

Sara sighed, she knew she was going to relent, her hormones were on full nurture mode, and she just could not refuse a hungry cub. Discreetly she scanned the surrounding area to make sure not even a bird could witness her catching Diego's madness. "Okay, I will help, but you owe me big."

"Thanks."

"Just look after my two while I nurse yours, and remember, BIG!"

Diego turned to where Sara's cub's had been playing when he arrived, two small tan, spotted cubs with golden eyes stared back inquisitively. He felt instantly at ease with these more natural looking cubs and rolled a toy (in this case an old mammoth knee cap, not at all sick to carnivores) for them to catch. They delighted in the attention and it was not long before a full on game of ball ensued.

"You know you're good with kids."

"Yeah, so people keep telling me." He was getting real tired of this joke.

"But you really are, these two have been struggling with their co-ordination, but look the little tykes are really focusing on that bone."

Diego watched as Snowball padded over to join the game.

"It would be a whole lot easier in a pack you know."Sara circled him pulling his attention away from the cubs."There's always room in my pack for one more. Think about it, help with the kid, a pack to hunt with, life would be a lot easier."

Diego felt very uneasy, he hated the idea of being tied to a pack and territory again "Never have been one for taking the easy option."

"So you're still moving on with your herd?"

"Yeah eventually, new horizons and all that."

"Suite yourself, but sooner rather than later, your kid is beating the hell out of my mine."

Diego's focus had drifted and he realized Snowball had one sabre cub in a head lock while he sat on the other, that kid worked fast! Slightly embarrassed he pulled Snowball off. "Sorry, kid doesn't know his own strength. Well thanks again."

"Just hope you're not the next Sabre being pinned down by him!" She called after him, Dam guy was nuts. Cute but nuts.

He didn't answer. He picked Snowball up and trotted downhill, putting as much distance between himself and that tight, constricting feeling that was growing inside him the longer he stayed with her.

Sid was still eating when Diego returned; he quietly crept up behind him and dropped Snowball into his lap.

"Here's the baby! And where have you been little guy?"

Sid's baby talk voice was the most annoying noise, after a difficult silence Diego answered.

"Getting milk he's too young for just solids."

"I know, I know, and how did li'l Snowball manage to find milk?"

"He asked nicely. Something you should bear in mind. I've heard stories about your methods which I am choosing to ignore."

"Ha ha, I was a single parent then, you wouldn't understand how hard that is."

They were conveniently interrupted as the mammoths returned. "Sid you're up! Must be afternoon already."

"Oh hi Manny, Ellie, Peaches. Have a nice walk?"

Peaches made to hug Sid, but stopped dead when she saw Snowball in his arms. They glared at each other. "Oh no! you two are going to be like brother and sister you've got to be friends."

"Sid, that's not such a good idea." Manny cautioned.

"They're just a little new to this that's all!" Ellie interrupted before Manny could finish explaining. "Look Peaches, having a little brother is the best thing ever!" She picked Snowball up to hug him, "Ah who's the cutest li'l kitten?" holding him high she gently bounced him.

Snowball struggled to turn off his powers of cute, shutting his eyes and hiding his pink pads he wriggled to get free. Ellie unfortunately interpreted this to go faster, after all kid's liked fast rides right! She spun him around untill she realised he was screaming in fear.

Peaches laughed hysterically, falling over in the effort.

"Sorry Sid." she handed the now fuzzy ball of fur back" hey if he had a long neck he'd look just like you" She tried desperately to make amends.

"Ah thanks, but I think he is a bit young to play with you guys. I think I'll just go find some gentler kid's for him to play with."

"Okay" Ellie did not know how to save the situation, so let Sid go. "Peaches it's not nice to laugh!"She scolded.

"Ellie don't be too hard on her, she is just laughing. She doesn't understand mummy did not mean to scare the kitten to death."

"Manny I feel awful enough already."

"So you should. I would have explained to him the truth about food chains and how this won't work. I would never have scared his kitten to death to prove it, that was just harsh."

Well she couldn't play with Sid so Peaches headed over to Crash and Eddie. The boys were rubbing tired, red eyes as they had not at all slept well. "That must have been the weirdest dream."

"Wow I had a weird dream! Like totally crazy."

"Eddie do you think that because we are twins we share dreams?"

"I doubt it; in mine I was helping Buck."

"Well, in mine I was Buck. Then all sorts of random stuff happened and now I am totally beat. I hope Peaches doesn't mind playing tidily winks this afternoon, I can't handle anything more strenuous than that."

"Hey Peaches!" Ellie jumped at the chance to be helpful, "Come play with mum and let your uncles wake up a bit. I've told you about those late nights' boys, you're not as young as you used to be."

Manny stood beside Diego "Hey, are you awake?"

"Well, I am now."

"Why are you doing this?"

Diego was surprised at the question; also a little annoyed Sara had already gone on about this already. "Well it's what you do in a herd, isn't it?"

"No, you don't usually do that in a herd."

"Well In a pack, sometimes not everyone returns from a hunt, the cubs however all get fed regardless." There take that for a bit of moral high ground! He wondered if he would be left alone for a bit too really think about what he was doing, and why.

"It is not a tiger. It is just as likely to attack you as anyone else here when it grows up."

"He is Sid's cub, and Sid is a part of this herd, so regardless of species, I will try and help, and maybe a good opportunity will present itself to ditch it. After all it worked out that way with the rest. Where is Sid?"

"Went for a walk with Snowball."

"How long ago?"

"About five minutes."

"Then I had better go save him." Well it was as good an excuse as any to avoid the 101 questions everyone seemed to have lately, Diego pulled himself up and left Manny to his thoughts. Manny contemplated hard and came up with no obvious right or wrong course of action. Sid was Sid and would always be Sid, might as well stop trying to reason sense into the little twerp and accept defeat.

* * *

Sid wandered over to where a few parents were talking. Remembering his last lot of unruly kid's the other parents snubbed him, shuffling their children off out of sight.

"How rude! Well we didn't want to play with them anyway did we Snowball." He noticed a pair of female Sloths sunbathing, and headed over to them. It was the pair that he had encountered during the first film.

"Hello ladies mind if me and my kid join you?" he plopped himself down between them before they could answer. "Ah, a rose between two thorns."

Rachel and Jennifer rolled their eyes at the rude intrusion. "Didn't you get eaten by a tiger a few seasons ago?"

"Yeah probably, all part of my life of living out on the edge, Foes at every turn, adventure over every horizon."

"And those two rhino were after you, so how did you escape them?"

"As always, by my sheer cunning and super skills of lighting speed and stelf, you find these inner strengths when you know, you have to defend these helpless little guys." He indicated to Snowball held tightly in his arms, a sure lady magnet, or so he thought.

"Didn't that kid have a lot less fur last time I saw it?"

It's a different kid Rachel, the last one was human! So Sid did you just lose the other one, or did you use it to distract those foes of yours so you could make your get away?"

Snowball gulped, he really didn't know his new mum.

"Actually I heroically returned that one to his herd where he really belonged, this one I saved only this year. Here do you want to hold him?" Ignoring the sceptical Jennifer Sid offered his baby to Rachel to hold.

"Ah, not so defenceless this one, um, don't those teeth hurt?" She backed away refusing to take the cub from Sid's out stretched arms.

"What these little teeth? Ha! those are nothing! You should have seen the teeth on the last three I saved; now those were teeth!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes"Right I've heard enough." She got up to go when she heard a deep threatening grow behind her; slowly she turned to see a tiger watching them. "Ah guy's I think mummy tiger wants its baby back now! Come on Rach, time to go! Like now!" She couldn't pull Rachel away fast enough! They exited the beauty spot via the nearest exit, leaving Sid to his fate.

"He's a cave lion actually!" He called uselessly after them, "So I'll see you around ladies?" Why did this always happen to him? He slouched in defeat.

"Sid what are you doing?"

Well at least his herd would never desert him! Diego was usually never more than five minutes away. (Except for that time he left the herd, but he had only travelled for ten minutes before he found Sid again so that didn't really count.)

"Oh just chillin'."

"Could you 'just chill' with the herd where someone can keep an eye on you?"

"Oh no, you had Snowball to yourself all morning, Manny and Ellie have their time out with Peaches, now I want some quality time to bond with my kid!"

"That is not quality time Sid, quality time is doing something you both enjoy, your just using him to chat up girls."

"I was just saying hi, I can't help being a total chick magnet! We were going to play right after."

"Right Sid. So you can come back to the herd and play there."

"No, we are staying out and finding some like minded mammals and having some fun before we return!"

"Sid your lady friends are long gone, anything you can do here alone, you can do back with the herd alone, where I can see that you're safe."

"They only ran because you scared them, you're jealous aren't you!"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah, you can't stand the thought of me being out with other mammals, mammals that might like me."

"That will never happen. They were leaving before I got here."

"You know you're my favourite tiger right? You can trust me to see other mammals, or more pacifically sloths. "

"Drop it Sid."

"But really, you leave me all morning and you're not concerned for my safety, then I meet some girls and boom! there you are! And, when I was being tempted away that time by adoring mini sloths, most of whom were female might I add, there you are, and being nice to me! But when I needed help coz those Kids were beating on me, nothing, and those sticks hurt! So did being buried alive!"

"I have to step back sometimes and let you learn from your own mistakes, plus it was funny. But that scene just there, that was embarrassing, Snowball didn't need to see that."

"So why did you not want me to stay with those mini sloths?"

"Because I .......What is the real issue here, just be serious for a second?"

"Manny thinks I am a bad parent, incapable of looking after myself let alone a kid."

"True, so far you have only failed to kill your kids because their natural parents have turned up and taken them back in time ... and eliminated all contact with you."

"We were being serious! I was a valued member of this herd back in the day; I don't feel valued at all right now. I feel like the clown. The sad clown in particular."

"So you need to march back and prove us wrong, start to be responsible for once, prove you can really do this."

"I can't. Parenting doesn't seem to come naturally to me. I really want this to work, but I had to leave earlier because I don't think Snowball and Peaches get along too well. I think Peaches intimidates Snow and scares him."

"Sid..." Diego stopped short from giving 'the circle of life' story." Just give the kids time to get to know each other. You remember how none of us got along to begin with and you worked out all those issues, just have a bit of faith in yourself, you are at your best when it comes to sticking this herd together."

"Gee, yeah I am good, I forget that sometimes."

"We all do. Sorry I didn't realise that this all was getting to you so much."

"Thanks I feel better now, we can head back now, but let's go the long way, they have their mysterious time, I too wish to have mysterious time out, I bet Manny misses me!"

"You do know what they do when they go off on those walks together don't you?"

"No, what do they do?"

"Obvious, they eat nonstop. You can't be that big just nibbling a few leaves before bed."

"So that's it! I thought that wasn't right, I eat all day and stay relatively lean, yet Manny hardly touches food and pours on the pounds! Ha it's all making sense now. So what do you do when you go off alone?"

"Nothing much. Hunt, eat, it all takes time, boring really"

* * *

Back at camp Crash and Eddie played with Peaches half heartedly; they all missed Sid in the game.

Ellie was worried, "They have been gone a long time, do you think there alright?"

"There're fine." Manny was getting tired now of her constant concern for everyone.

"I'm not so sure, last time Sid was gone so long, he had been kidnapped by dino's, and before that taken by mini sloths, what if he's in trouble? Maybe" she was going to suggest Manny go check on them, but remembered his skills of diplomacy were at best non-existent.

"Don't worry sis, you two are always gone and you know how it annoys you when me and crash check in on you."

"Well yes but that is kind 'a different."

"How so?" Eddie looked at her bemused.

"Well we are a couple and sometimes couples like to have time out together without their kid brothers jumping all over their heads."

"But they are a couple having time out together, and maybe they don't want you jumping all over their heads either."

"I wasn't going to jump on them, I just thought I would check that's all, big difference guys."

"Still being nosy sis, maybe it would be more considerate if we butted out and gave them some space once in a while."

Ellie was shocked when had Eddie grown up?

"You know I'm right sis."

"He is right Ellie," Manny added "They are making some big decisions together raising a kid and probably need some space to work things out."

"Hey when did you all get so adult about this?"

"Now, now Ellie." Crash chided "We have all had a good laugh at their expense but there is a time and place for such childish games and I think by spying on them you are clearly over stepping the boundary between 'bit of fun' to 'totally obnoxious'.

Sid carrying Snowball entered the clearing with Diego beside him. "What's up herd?" They were all looking at Ellie, "Did I just miss something funny?"

"No nothing important here Sid, I'm glad your back, did you get up to much? Uh, have fun I mean, sorry I don't mean to pry." Manny looked away, choosing words carefully was hard.

"Just chilled out with some friends, caught some rays, you know the usual." Sid pulled over a good log to sit on, that was the most activity he had done in a while and felt shattered for it.

The twins however were just waking up as evening started and bounced around, Peaches joined them, grinning all the while at Snowball trapped hanging from Sid's arm. He glared back; he was going to have that mammoth one day. Diego noticed the tension between them and looked to Sid; this was his moment to shine. Sid snored deep in a comatose state on his log. Diego despaired at the lazy good for nothing Sloth, why did he bother with him?

* * *

Later, when the herd were asleep for the night. Crash and Eddie pondered life.

"We are out of the loop here; we need a baby to fit in again."

"Yeah lone bachelor was so last season, but we don't have girl friends."

"So we can find some kid and have an instant family, it's not that hard. After all Mum raised a baby mammoth and we must have learned something about interspecies relationships from that. So I have been thinking, a bear would be nice. We could feed it nuts and berries, easy, and it can carry us everywhere."

"Ah cool, but it's a bit strange, you know us being brothers, it would feel a bit well, wrong somehow."

"The best thing about kids is that they don't judge, or ask questions if you find them young enough, ted will just accept us for who we are."

"Okay, we will keep our eye out, but I am not steeling a kid!"

"I can't believe you would suggest such a thing, nor would I."

"Good, you just had me worried; you seemed to have put a lot of thought into this that's all."

"Race you to that tree!"

"You're on."

That night they did happen to find a lost baby mammoth, but decided the herd had enough of these already so held out for the next orphan to come along. The mammoth baby found her natural parents after a few adventures and lived happily ever after.

* * *

Well thats as good a place as any to stop. I have been reading a lot on this site and may have been more than slightly influcnced by a few stories. Sorry if yours is one of them!


	3. a few weeks later

I own nothing, only lose it if I did, so for the best really.

* * *

After five weeks of gruelling physical and mental training we find Sid propped up by the customary fire, roasting some root vegetables. He started his 'bestest parent' campaign with every ounce of strength he had, and now was flagging from the effort, after all this was the longest that he had ever been a parent for.

Every day he would try to teach Snowball a new lesson, starting with the simple basics i.e. talking, coordination, climbing, very easy stuff, or at least it should have been, but Snow only wanted to play one game, 'chase and pounce' all day, every day, any interruption to the game was boring. Then there was Peaches, now a little healthy competition was one thing, but he could swear that she was purposefully bettering Snow at everything that he tried to teach. Sid pondered whether Manny was putting her up to this to highlight his second rate parenting, or if indeed it was all as innocent as everyone made out.

Sid contemplated this as he poked the flames, there was a pattern. He would be teaching snow, this would always be a long drawn-out task as Snowball's attention was short if nonexistent, and Peaches would, by chance be playing nearby with her uncle's. As she played Sid could swear she would glance over, picking up the necessary information to understand what exactly Snowball was required to do, then she would leave to play on her own out of sight for a while. By the time Sid would have Snowball repeating the rules and understanding that to get this lesson out of the way he would have to comply with what was being asked, peaches would return a master of the task in question, flaunting her new skill effortlessly and offering to help Uncle Sid teach.

At first Sid marvelled at her cleverness, but even he was getting more than a little peeved with her 'just what can't I do!'goodyness , especially as she seldom helped! The reluctant to learn Snowball would only revert to his favourite game of 'chase and pounce' and Sid would end up running after him running after a giggling wildly Peaches.

Earlier today he had, just to test, been teaching Snow how to light a fire, an impossible task for Peaches surely? Well by the time he had gathered the necessary wood and flint and explained the actions to a yawning Snowball, Peaches was already tending a great blaze a short distance away with a smirk on her face and an offer to help Uncle Sid get his started. Manny had appeared at that moment and told Sid off for being irresponsible with his fires. Crash and Eddie had agreed, so unless Ellie had had a hand in this than who else?

Sid sighed as he turned his sweet potato. Snowball sat beside him hungry as usual, he watched Peaches eating grass greedily. The possums crunched loudly up above, a few crumbs fell to the floor beside him. He did not dare chase Peaches while Ellie was there so he just glared, and counted the seconds until Diego returned with his food. Sid began eating. Snowball's stomach growled, chewing became the only thing he could hear. Finally after five of the longest minutes imaginable, Snow's patience ran out. He looked seriously at the dandelion beside him. Peaches ate them; Sid ate them, he had even seen those possums eat them, he was starving so it stood to good reason that this was the answer. Snow picked the flower and a couple of leaves and held them in his mouth. Peaches shoved another trunkful of sweet spring grass into her mouth 'do it' she seemed to beckon, Sid looked encouragingly at him, he felt compelled to try. Snowball chewed the plant slowly, it wasn't a nice warm wet feeling he was used to, rather a stringy difficult, cabbage mess that just bunched up into a ball in the roof of his mouth.

"Good huh?" Sid voiced "Full of vitamins for a growing body, and lovingly compacted into an indisputably beutiful flowery package."

Snowball swallowed hard, he was still not convinced but took another mouthful anyway in the hopes that it would get better.

"So Sid" Came Eddie's voice from above, "If you two are a couple, then how'd you decide which role each of you would play?"

"Guy's if you were in anyway mature, than Ellie would not need to tuck you up like the babies you boys really are."

"Sheesh touchy today aren't we? I was just asking.... Did you draw straws?"

"Look I can see what you're getting at, just because I stay home and look after Snow all day you think that I am a useless stay at home mom, no offence Ellie."

"None taken Sid as both I and Manny share all parenting tasks, seeing as we are equal in all we have to offer a growing child."

"Oh good answer." Sid turned his head back to look up the tree where the possums were hanging, "yeah we too are equal in what we can offer so sexually orientated roles don't apply to this family."

"Actually." Snowball liked knowing something no one else did so stated his piece of information very matter of factly," In a pack a mum would go out and hunt bringing the food back to the dad and kids. I never figured out what dads did, just sat around all day I suppose."

"Hah! So that makes me the daddy! in your face possums!" Sid threw a hot potato in their direction, but failed to hit anything let alone anyone. "So where is Manny?" Sid asked only too aware of Ellie's unusual presents at this time of day. He was guessing that they had argued, a problem for Dr Sid no doubt.

"Oh he left to check out some other Mammoths in the area, you know meet the neighbours."

"And you didn't join him........ because?" Sid beckoned.

"No reason. Just felt like chillin with you guys today."

"But I thought the two of you liked your long walks together?"

Yeah walkings ok, but I wondered what you guys did while we were away."

"Well that's easy, nothing."

"Not yet, but you never know with you guys do ya?" She laughed nervously, very out of character for Ellie. Sid felt uneasy and looked back to his vegetables. Eddie retreated further up his tree to where his brother was literally hanging out. A heavy silence descended as they all felt watched by Ellie, and tried not to notice. Eyes twitched and the fire crackled, finally the silence was Brocken by Snowball being violently sick. Loud hacking and wheezing filled the camp as Diego returned empty handed from his hunt, he rushed over to Snowball and hit him on the back causing a big green ball of chewed vegetable matter to come flying out.

"You let him eat grass?" Diego looked at Sid in disbelief. He turned back to Snowball "You don't eat grass, not unless you want to be sick, did you want to be sick? Then don't eat grass. And you should not have let him, what do you do all day if not teach him basic stuff like that?

"I teach him lot's actually. He can nearly swim."

"Great he can swim and eat grass, now what swims and eats grass Sid? Nothing!"

"Nurture, I give him the nurture that he needs to grow into the well rounded individual we should all aspire to be."

"You can't eat nurture Sid; you should have adopted a tree."

"Well then maybe you should think of becoming a tree as all your grouchy hunting has got you is nothing. If however you had learned to eat grass...." Sid stopped as he didn't like the death glare he was receiving. "Don't you ever grow up and become all stroppy like him Snowball."

"I'm sorry, bad day in the field." Diego muttered as he flopped down to lie on his side and shut his eyes. He knew he was in the wrong, after all Sid was not a tiger and probably didn't know a thing about being one. He would have to teach them both if he wanted any practical skills to result from their, or Sid's play.

Sid knew that was as good as he was going to get."So tomorrow we were going to learn to catch butterflies do you want to join?"

"Actually I was thinking it's time we taught him some proper hunting skills."

Sid really hadn't expected an answer, but felt a little flattered at the invite. His first family outing, to do something exceptionally gross. "I was wondering if that was going to come up."

Wiping his mouth and memory clean of all vegetable matter Snowball perked up, this was his favourite game. "Can we go now?" He squeaked excitedly.

"No, I'm resting." Diego snapped back.

"Maybe you can teach me here?" He looked slyly over to Peaches, who was straining to hear what was going on.

"Bad idea, from what I've seen she will only beat you." Diego snipped back. Snowball lowered his ears and mumbled something as he slouched off to pounce on some rocks.

Sid propped himself beside Diego. It had been a while since they had had time to just sit and talk together. Raising a family took more time than you would think. "Sooo.... were you as cute as snow when you were a cub?"

"I was tawny with spots, nothing like him." Diego shut his eyes tighter hoping to sleep.

"Ooooh ginger and spotty, tough break, guess that explains a lot though, bad attitude...."

"We were all gin...tawny with spots, everyone looked the same, not all pink and green and gay (as in English version of the word i.e. delightfully exuberant) like sloths, and mini sloths. Are they still around? Maybe we could find them, see if that offer to take you away is still open."

Sid carried on as if he had not spoken "But ginger and spotty? I can't think of anything worse." His face screwed in thought. "Really I can't." After another thoughtful silence." So Diego, what does one ginger kid call another ginger kid?"

"I wouldn't know. What would one ginger kid call another Sid?"

"No it was a serious question, oh but now I wish I had a punch line."

"Ok we're going; I'm about ready to kill something now." Diego stood up abruptly letting Sid fall. "Keep up, you're helping Sloth."

Manny returned to the camp as they left "Aw, I didn't just miss another fluffy moment of marital bliss did I?"

"No hon, you didn't."

"Then what about any wild adventures from Sid or the twins?"

"Well, no you didn't miss any of that either." Elllie sighed, she so missed adventure, even a little one would be nice about now.

"See I told you to stop worrying, even if they did have an adventure without us, then so what? There will be others, and it is not as if they can't fend for themselves. In the meantime we're kind of having an adventure with Peaches, and I swear that I'd be envious of that." He smiled down at his sweet little Peaches; he wished that Ellie was just a bit more contented; she seemed to be longing more and more lately for something wild to spontaneously happen.

"But what if they discover a way back to dino land or, or maybe need our help? Manny I have always been there for my brothers."

"And you still are, but I think that this is more for you. I think that maybe honey you are an adrenaline addict and hope to fall into some mad scenario where we have to battle against all odds to survive. When you think about it we have been non-stop living on the edge since we met, you're a Fun junky."

"Maybe." She looked down guiltily.

"So are you going to join me next time I visit that new mammmoth herd?"

"Will we be gone long?"

"Does it matter? I promise it will be a worthy adventure."

"Hmmmm."

"You remember that park I built Peaches?"

"Course I do."

"Well, because there are more mammoths over there they have built this massive park and more. I would really like it if you came with me and saw for yourself, I missed your company today."

"Ok, ok." she smiled, Manny had a way of getting around her stubborn side far too easily.

Eddie cautiously ventured down the tree again seeing Ellie looking calmer."Hi Manny." He said nervously, testing the water. "So, when do you know you're really ready for a family?"

"If you're Sid you're never ready." Manny answered flatly.

"No, I mean like how does anyone know they are ready?"

"What? you mean me? You don't think I'm ready for a family? Bit late now to be cautious."

"No, that's not it either! I'm just asking how do you know? Is it possible to know?"

"I am going to stamp on you and then you will never know when you will be ready to have a family; you just won't live long enough to find out."

"Wow you are so touchy!" Annoyed that no one was taking this simple question seriously today Eddie stomped back up his tree.

"Ellie I think that your brothers next adventure would be best experienced by possums only." The thought of those guy's with kids was too much for Manny at any time of day, this herd was chaotic enough already.

"I agree. I wouldn't want to see how that's going to go down, when can we leave?"

"Well I only glimpsed the herd from this side of the valley, I recon a day's walking just to reach them, unless we move our herd closer. I will talk to everyone when we all get together later. Until then however, I'm going to find some food, it has been a long lonely morning walking all that way and back, would you care to join me for a snack?" Manny offered his trunk to Ellie.

"Shh! my brothers will hear, it's a walk remember?"

"They can't hear from up there, why are they so high? Probably planning some prank on us all. WELL SEE YOU LATER!" Manney called up, but the possums did not hear, nor did they notice them leave.

Crash looked down. "Eddie everyone's gone!"

"Wow, we are so out of this loop thing they have forgotten we even exist, bummer!"

"We just got to get noticed again, that's all, a practical joke has always done the trick, we will just annoy our way back into their hearts again."

"What if Sid was right, they think we are babies and now that they all have their own kids have abandoned us?"

"Get a grip dude do babies wet... no another example of what we're good at, well we... no that was Buck. Ok we saved Sid, no, we got Manney that time when Ellie was in trouble!"

"We are soooo useless. That's it we gotta grow up bro."

"But I don't want to! I'm not even sure I can."

"Fine then I have to grow up for the both of us, or else we get left behind."

"Bit late for that don't you think? A really big Practical joke has always worked in the past"

"No, not this time Crash. This time is different, there is no life endangering threat surrounding the herd, so our light hearted comic relief is totally unnecessary."

"Where are you going?"

"To take a walk."

"You mean pig out behind my back? There are other ways to overcome your insecurities Ed"

"No Crash, I mean a real walk, to clear my head and figure out what I must do to grow up."

"Come back when you give up, wont you?"

"Sure." And with that he bounced from tree limb to limb until he was gone. Crash hung alone listening to the breeze, feeling very lonely.

"He'll be back, they'll all be back, they better not come back to find me talking to myself though. Eddie I'll grow up too, just don't leave me!" he bounded off after Eddie, but did not find him......

* * *

Diego, Sid and Snowball walked for a few miles in a heavy silence. Sid dragged his feet getting bored.

"Are we there yet?"

"No Sid." Said Snowball, angry that Sid could not even try to act like a grown up on this important expedition.

"Why do we have to go so far? There must be someone you can eat closer than this."

"Do you remember that time when no one could find Harry Sid?" Diego said.

"Yeah sure I do, I've never played hide and seek since."

"Well, ever since I have always gone at least a few miles from camp for dinner."

"Oh.... You could have said at the time we searched for days looking for him, and he was nice, I liked Harry."

"Yeah I almost felt guilty, but you needed the excercise, and you got to play your stupid game a few days longer so I thought I would wait till the time was right then tell you. Here this will do." Diego slipped under some low growing shrubs, and lay down to wait.

"Hey, but there's nothing here?"

"Nothing yet, Sid but if you look around we have here a good view of acres of grass to each side and something is sure to come along sooner or later."

"But I thought you stalked herds and chased down your prey?"

"I don't know if you've noticed Sid but I am really tired, so this will do. Now keep down, stay quiet and wake me if anything interesting happens."

Thirty minutes later.......

"Wow this is boring, makes chewing the old cud look electrifying." Sid looked around again for anything to play with.

"Will someone just come now." Snowball whined, surly no one had to wait this long to eat.

"I bet that dandelion looks good about now huh Snow?"

"No." Snow contemplated how good a sloth steak would look about now, and struggled hard to put all thoughts of food out of his mind.

"How about some sweet potato? You have never tried that, and it is sure easier to come by than your food. Or some fruit, everyone likes fruit especially pears and peaches we will have to try all my favourite foods see if you like them. Snow sighed.

Diego stirred from his sleep."We don't think about Peaches like that, or any of the herd for that matter."

"I was talking about fruit, have you ever even tried any fruit?"

"No need to. Always been able to catch all the food I need long before I get suicidal."

"But you have got to admit it sure is easier being vegetarian than hunting. Definitely more interesting, even if you believe all the stories you hear."

"Well hunting is definitely overrated, usually you edit it down to the last ten minutes for hero stories, but this is it. The wait, the anticipation, the total utter boredom really, you should never do this alone it can drive you nuts. Just try to sleep it will pass the time quicker."

Hours later...

"Oh Diego wakeup, look antelope just like on cave paintings."

Diego pulled himself up to see the distant herd grazing. They were slowly headed this way so he would wait until they were closer before trying anything. In the meantime he studied for any weaknesses he could use to his advantage. It was not long before he spotted a young male limping way behind the others. He looked to see if Snowball had spotted this opportunity. Snowball's eyes were fixed on the nearest animal, a full grown female with fawn nearby, his paws twitched with excitement, and he tensed his muscles in readiness to bound forward. The herd was too close for any mistakes to go unnoticed so Diego put a paw heavily on Snow's back forcing the cub to stay sat in position."First we must pick a target," he whispered"one that will fall easy," Snows eyes were still fixed on the large female. "Or one that has wandered a bit behind the others, maybe a weaker one that the herd would be less likely to defend in an attack." Still Snow looked to the strong alert female and began to wriggle to get to her. Diego forced his head to the smaller limping male who was now lying down exhausted with the effort of keeping up. Diego's words finally seemed to be sinking in.

"Oh like that one! Look it is tired already!"

"Shhh! Talk quietly, yes that would be a good one."

"HO NO!" Sid, who had been happily watching the fawn, saw which one they were looking at to eat.

The heard at once looked up toward the shrubs they were hiding under, ears forward and nostrils flared for danger, but all they saw and smelt was sloth, so they settled back down to graze again.

Diego lifted his head again to peek out; luckily he had already had his paw on Snowballs back so pushing him down flat to the earth was done in an instant of Sid's stupidity. Now both cats glared at Sid.

"Heh, sorry." He whispered lowering his head so to be the same height as his friends." But not that one, it's only little."

"Little, weak, injured, and sits alone so has no friends, an easy demo." Diego hissed hunger pushing his patience.

"But you had a limp, were kinda slow, kept to yourself and we didn't kill you."

"No," Diego fought hard with his temper "you left me remember?"

"Reluctantly! I said I'd carry you!"

Through gritted teeth "Fine Sid, so which one would you choose?"

Sid looked back to the antelopes and studied hard. If he hadn't been so annoyed Diego would have laughed at the look of concentration on his face as he studied each animal. Snowball, under the weight of Diego's paw settled down for a long wait with a great sigh of inevitable boredom. With a dramatic roll of his eyes he squeaked "He is never going to choose one."

"Ah, that one."

"Which one?" Diego was not expecting Sid to actually choose.

"There that mean looking one."

"You mean the lead male?"

"Yep! He looks real menacing don't you think? I bet he's a real bully!"

"Ok." Diego looked to Snow who was now sat up and focussed on the chosen victim, his little tail twitched with renewed anticipation. "Then let's focus on the biggest, baddest one that might deserve to be killed off today for reasons guessed at by a sloth that has never met him." Sid was also crouched focussed souly on the big antelope, mirroring the intensity of Snow's absorption in the lesson. Diego watched the pair of them as he carried on. "The one who could skewer me twice over with those pointy horns, the one who is easily three times my size and....."

"Are we going to see any action today, or is this just going to be theory?" Sid had eaten before leaving, but he was getting hungry again and his stomach was defiantly distracting him from the speech Diego was now giving. "Only I'm going to need a snack, and to talk properly soon before some random involuntary shouting occurs, also Snow struggles with his concentration in verbal lessons he needs more to watch and learn rather than listen so he doesn't drift. I find actions can be worth a thousand words when teaching him anything. Did I say I was hungry? So if you guys aren't going to eat do you mind if I break cover and get some food?" Diego whacked Sid. "Ouch!"

"Watch and learn." He stalked off.

"Patience Snow, most important when hunting." Sid sat back happy that this boring lesson was going to end soon."Maybe if Diego had more, he would be a bit more successful and less irritable.

Snow looked hard at Sid."You know I think that you've got to work on your concentration too, you're only interested in silly things, nothing really serious."

"Hey you can learn a lot though the medium of play I'll have you know."

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you later, right now you're missing Diego's two cents worth of input to parenting, so look sharp kid and less talking!"

Diego skirted around to some longer grass so to hide his approach. He paused as he came along side the sleeping young injured male, pride made him pass by, he had always done as told no matter how ridicules. (e.g. go into a human camp full of well armed people or walk across a mine field of exploding hot water geysers.) He just could not say no and it was really beginning to bug him, why the hell was he following orders from Sid, and why did it matter so much that he would not back down from this challenge?

The long grass became sparser as he neared the target, from the shrubbery Snow and Sid could see him, and he could hear Snow craning to see. The antelope herd too and looked over to where Sid and Snow were hiding, their backs were now towards Diego the real danger and he crept closer still to the distracted leader. He crept so close in fact that he could now almost touch him. Diego paused why had he not been noticed? Was this guy so arrogant thinking no one would try it on that he needn't bother worrying about attack? Pompous git! Diego stood up and purposefully coughed to announce his arrival, after all, these things always started with a chase, it was common etiquette.

The big buck looked up mildly interested, then snorted in surprise, he was being stalked by a lone little tiger, he mockingly said "bring it on kitty" and gestured a "bowers salute' with his twin, meter long spiralling horns. That was all Diego needed, he lunged full force into the bucks shoulder forcing him to stumble side wards. Quickly recovering himself the buck smiled,"My turn!" He lowered his head and charged.

Diego, after gulping, turned tail and ran. He ran back past the sleeping young male concealed in the longer grass and lightly jumped over him, why could I not just go for the easy one? He thought as he dashed on toward the only real tree he could see an impossible thirty meters away. The crash behind indicated that his pursuer had not been so graceful. Diego turned to see the great buck aiming a but to the smaller, injered male in sheer annoyance. This was his chance as he was never going to out run him, he lunged at him again this time grabbing around his exposed neck and shoulders. This time the buck fell. Diego struggled to deliver a killing bite but could not reach any sweet spots that would instantly stop this beast. Instead he found himself rolling with, and now holding onto an angry standing bull antelope as he watched an ideal victim limp slowly away unharmed. Diego had a vast catalogue of 'what to do in scenarios when hunting', but sitting on your angry oversized victim was a difficult situation to get out of. He could not run, hide or climb somewhere safe, nor rely on his pack to save him. So he thought about apologising, and then maybe getting off, maybe ... too late the antelope began to run and kick wildly in tight circles trying to dislodge him. Diego held on tight and shut his eyes, this was going to be the most embarrassing defeat in the history of big cats, but as he prayed he noticed a pattern to the kicks and turns, if he timed this just right ... NOW! He pulled with all his weight into the turn before all four feet were on the ground hauling them both over for another roll only this time Diego came out on top and finished the fight.

He sat for a long moment in disbelief, his legs had turned to jelly after holding on so tight and his head swam with thrill of his feat, he had just single handily downed an animal big enough to feed a whole pack. Even Soto would have never tried taking a victim this big alone! If he could stand he would have punched the air, but as it was he just gingerly let go and slowly slid off to sit beside his prize as Sid and Snowball approached.

"Whooo that was exciting," exclaimed Sid "Snow really enjoyed it, next time though less drama as I got a bit worried, then bored as you dragged it out a bit ,then I may have shut my eyes..."

"Ok Sid I get it."

"So I guess I will just leave you too to it, as you know, Yuk."

"Don't go far these plains are used by a lot of predators, we should walk back together."

"I'll be over in that tree, there has got to be something for a hungry Sloth to eat around here."

Diego turned to Snowball "That's how not to hunt."

"But that looked fun!"

"It was." He said smiling before turning all serious again. "But you could get yourself killed doing stuff like that."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I guess." He paused before he could say I'm stupid." It's nice to challenge yourself, take a bit of risk every now and then. But it is plain stupid getting yourself injured or worse over nothing. Having said that you can also die of boredom I'm sure." He gave up trying to explain to Snowball what he could not explain to himself." Well eat up this won't go unnoticed long and we will lose it." He finished lamely.

Snowball greedily tucked in, this was much better than veg any day.

From far away, on a lofty wind swept down overlooking the open grass lands a lone bull mammoth watched the events unfold on the plains below with interest. "Tough guy eh? We'll see about that." He muttered darkly to himself and turned to rejoin his comrades.

Far away from the opposite direction, three female sabres also saw the action. "Foods up girls lets go."

"Hah! We've taken so much food off of this fool i've almost forgotten how to hunt for myself."

"Don't say that Jess, this fool is going to end up dead sooner or later pulling stunts like that, and we are going to be back to stage one 'working for a living' rather than chillin." Said Sara.

"Still he is still alive now, no reason not to look forward to a little more girl time and having fun before work starts again."

"Your right Tammy and I am planning something special." Sara smiled wickedly as she thought of her plans, a day out only witnessed by single young cats with no strings or cubs to think about.

"What are you planning Sara tell us."

"Soon Jess, when I am sure we can pull it off. I can't risk you too blurting it out in front of that damn lazy alpha of ours, or the cubs. This has got to be hush hush until I say so, but if it does happen believe me your both going to enjoy." Sara winked at her two pack mates as they trotted off toward their meal.

Jess slowed down at the mention of cubs, this was her first litter and she wasn't quite as old and cynical as Sara yet. "Shouldn't we be calling for old Dave and the cubs to join?" She looked back in the direction of their pack den, a group of rocks not half a mile away.

"Not yet." Sara snapped "Old Dave will as usual eat the lions share and leave us with the scraps to share with the cubs. I say we call them after we have had our fill and leave Dave to babysit a while longer, after all what else does he do all day other than sleep? Now come on girls our carcass is getting cold!"

Ten minutes later they reached their destination.

"Ok girl's best furious faces, let's go get our food." They approach snarling with hackles raised. "Back off Diego this is our food now."

Diego looked at the three of them with feigned disinterest. This was why he was so tired, he kept getting mugged by these three bullies as well as others when he carried food back alone across the open plains.

"You know it will go straight to your hips if you don't work it off once in a while catching your own stuff." Diego snapped a bit disgruntled, he could have used a bite or two more before moving on.

"You know this wouldn't happen if you were part of a pack." Sara replied, a little sympathy in her voice, they had stolen rather a lot off of him lately.

"It's easy enough to catch another." He lied, and badly he was getting terrible at lying lately. "Come on Snow, we were leaving anyway."

"Suite yourself loner." Sara watched the odd couple of cats stalk off.

"Do you think my hips are getting bigger?" Questioned Tammy.

"Don't listen to him Tam." Said jess "He's just a typical male."

"No not just a typical male." said Sara her gaze now distant."Different. I think our carefree days might be numbered girls."

"Hope not," giggles Jess. "I'm enjoying this; it's like being an alpha male."

"I'm moving my plans forward or else we might never get an opportunity like this again, now listen up girls.........Whisper, whisper......."

"Why did you let them take our food?" Snowball whined.

"No big deal, we will just find more food tomorrow, let's just get cleaned up and find Sid.

Snow scowled he did not like being bullied, especially by girls, and especially by species that were below that of a cave lion. He thought some dark thoughts about revenge while he cleaned himself up before they started off again.

"Let it go Snow, a pint sized pup like you is not going to kill three sabres anytime soon."

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"I'm guessing lion attitudes are as bad as tigers. Once I would have been hell bent on revenge, but that just gets you distracted, and you may miss the next opportunity when it should present itself. Look." Sid sat breaking nuts from a hoard he'd found in the tree he was sitting under.

"Your first opportunity to stalk prey, but don't hurt him, and don't eat him, just sneak up and jump him, it will be funny, uh, good practice."

Snow nodded and crouched down to stalk, then skipped with a high playful step over to Sid and jumped in his lap.

"Oh hi guys, you're done already?"

"These girls came over and took our food." Snow stated matter of factly."Diego said it was ok, but I was still hungry."

"You called that a stalk? Were you not paying any attention to today's lesson?" Diego said aghast at how little this cub had learnt.

"Sid was talking all the time, and I cannot see through his head."

"Hey, not all the time I wasn't. I just thought it needed a little commentary that's all, but less deflecting are you afraid of girls."

"They've got claws you know, hey maybe I am, do you think I should go back and cure myself with those three lovely looking women?"

"You said they had fat hips from being so lazy." Snowball was really good with facts.

"Have I ever told you you're a tattle?"

"Hey I think we got more pressing problems." Sid did not like where this was headed. "Snow was that supposed to be your first stalk?"

"Maybe."

"Well it needs working on. You can practice as we all head back together."

"What's the rush, I thought you liked mysterious time out from the herd."

"Well, from the top of my tree I saw a monstrous snow slope I want to sledge down." It was true he had been admiring the virgin snow ripe for a bit of snow board action, something Sid was remarkably good at, unlike hunting. Also he knew Diego enjoyed fast rides so would be more than likely to come with rather than stalk off.

"Sounds too good to miss, lead the way."

Snow skipped along behind practicing his prowl.

* * *

Meanwhile Eddie sat alone staring at his reflection in a pond while he contemplated what mature actually meant, and whether or not he could get away with keeping his sling shot while he matured. He had been sitting for quite some time deep in thought when a hand gently resting on his shoulder made him jump.

"Sorry." Came an unfamiliar female voice "it was meant to be a comforting gesture not a means to scare you silly."

Eddie stared hard at this new comer; she looked just like every other possum.... But with curvy hips. "Your a girl?"

"Yeah, neat huh?" She followed his eyes as he scoped her out unashamedly."I suppose you're a boy?"

"You look just like my brother."

"Thanks, I think? You don't look at all like my sister."

"You have a sister?" Could this get any better?

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that actually, look I was concerned, you have been staring at that pond forever and I thought I'd better see if you were ok." She said as she took a seat beside him.

"Well, my sister kind of left without me today, and, you see since she had a baby I've been a bit left out I guess. This sounds really stupid, but before she used to carry me everywhere and tuck me up when she thought I was asleep, and well she still does, but now she has all grown up and got a family and stuff and I guess I want to grow up but I'm not sure I can, so here I am looking at this pond."

"U-huh, your older sister?"

"Yeah my big, big sister."

"Most people would just find that weird, but well my sister carries me around, and I suppose treats me like a kid, and well I love it, so I understand where you are coming from, but I'm afraid I can't help you. Unless you need help finding your sister again, you see Fleet, my sister, is really good at tracking."

"Would you go out with me? My brother is also single if that helps, he could double date with your sister, only it's kinda rare to find someone who shares so much in common." (Possums work fast.)

"Uh sure yeah why not, umm my sister is kinda not a possum though so you may want to rethink that." (All Possums work fast!)

"Wow, my sister is not a possum either! I thought you'd find me weird if you knew she was a mammoth!"

"Well that's great, so you're totally ok with other species?"

"Are you kidding, me and my brother hang out with just about every type of animal there is!"

"That is so cool, I will call fleet my big sis over, she won't believe this, we seldom share friends."She threw back her head and screamed in a strange howling gesture. Eddies face dropped as Fleet, a big slobbering long legged wolf, bounded over to greet them. This is my sister Fleet, I'm Emma by the way."

"That's a wolf."

"Yes! Very sharp this one!" Emma nudged Fleet as she spoke. " Fleet this is Eddie we just met but I kind of like him, so try not to eat him ok?"

Fleet stopped panting hot wolf breath for a second and ran her tongue across her long snout. "I won't eat a friend." She spoke simply in a high voice more suited to singing than casual speech, she then pushed her snout into Eddie and roughly sniffed him all over cataloguing his scent so to make good on her promise. "Smells like possum, mammoth, sloth and cats." Fleet could not hide her excitement, she lived to chase things and cats were ever so good to chase, she bounced around the two possums weightless and graceful. "Let's run."

"Sure, would you like to come Eddie? Fleet can run like the wind, it's always a blast."

Eddie who had not taken his eyes off of Emma yet was not about to. "Sure!" And with that got quite carried away.

* * *


	4. a slow shuffle forward

Chap 4 and about time too!

* * *

Manny woke up early next morning, very early. He had hardly slept as he was eager to set off on his first 'normal' family trip to see the neighbouring herd of mammoths before they moved on following their migration paths across the continent. He could hear their rumbling songs and games last night building his enthusiasm more for both Ellie and Peaches to learn of the rich and cultured species that they belonged to. As a calf he had grown up in a large herd, and although he did not miss the company of mammoths (family excluded of course) He did miss the story telling, the evening tales of great mammoths of the past and the histories of names and places. He swore never to tell a bed time story again after the loss of his first family, but things change, and now he realised he was really bad at telling them. His first child had sat patiently listening out of love for him, but other kids since had told him the painful truth, he sucked. He sucked badly. Crash and Eddie tried often to inject a bit of life into these tales, but possums and weasels did not feature in tales of great mammoth histories, so historic battles of words took place around the camp fires at night as opinions clashed and tempers frayed. Lately things had become a bit more heated as Snowball wanted the villainous predators to have bigger parts with more words. Diego agreed the predator always had one objective in these tales and became a very predictable two dimensional character, whose doom was inevitable from the start, he either got stamped on by a mammoth, or blown up by a super possum if Eddie was quick enough to get an ending in before Manny could shut him up.

Still these unique tales did have the desired effect of entertaining the kids, both young and old during the long cold nights. But Manny wanted his family to know something of their great past and maybe a touch of normality wouldn't be a bad thing either. Manny lay still, listening to Ellie sleeping peacefully beside him and watching the first of the sun's rays light up the sky in tones of pink purple and finally red. "Red sky of morning, heed the great mammoths warning!" he recited to himself, not that he believed any of the old stories or myths but it was an ominous sight all the same. Trouble to come he mused, Ellie will be pleased!

But what else could possibly happen? They had had everything and then some thrown at them! Just then one lone possum tiptoed into camp, without noticing anyone was awake he headed to his tree. This was bad news, they were always together, worse was Manny could not tell the difference between the twins to know which one they had and which one was missing. Maybe Ellie would miss the fact that they only had one possum, maybe...

"And what time do you call this?" Ellie's voice snapped out from beside him, he jumped involuntarily nothing gets past a mum, nothing.

Crash stopped mid sneak, before he could answer he shuddered to the point of near fake death fear as Ellie continued "You guy's should have been back hours ago, anything could have happened, and where is Eddie?"

"You can't expect us home on time anymore, we are grown up, well Eddie's growing up, but seeing as we are the same age then I get all the perks adulthood entails, including partying all night if need be!"

"Since when?"

"Since you grew up and left us behind! (and as an afterthought) and started to snap like mum!"

"I do not sound like mum!" Ellie gasped, their mum had been ruthless with rules such as washing and bed time and snacking! Ellie sure was glad that now she was a mammoth, she could eat mammoth sized portions and not feel guilty. Sure their mum only had rules because she cared and wanted the best for them, and they had been quite the wild bunch of hellions deserving of most of the retort for their impetuous behaviour, but she had not grown up, had she? Surely she hadn't changed! No she reasoned with herself it was just because there had not been enough adventure going on lately to... She became very aware that her snapping at Crash had woken the entire herd who were now staring at her; she felt ever so slightly self conscious. "It is not unreasonable to worry when some of the younger herd members are out all night long, and might I add still out, now where is your brother?" As soon as he said it she regretted it that was just like mum!

By now Crash had retreated just out of trunks reach, he was not about to risk being put over Ellie's knee "Our brother is..." Crash spotted Eddie Finally stumble into view, "Behind you." Eddie waltzed in as if drunk on his love of life, blissfully unaware to the atmosphere of the camp. He tried to pull crash into a dance but failed as Crash stood ridged, arms folded, foot drumming the ground and frown deeply furrowed. "And where have you been all night? I must have turned every rock, sweated blood, and even despaired looking for you!"

Ellie redoubled her efforts turning to face Eddie "What time do, uh... And just where...What he said!" She finished lamely, she was not like mum, she could never in a million years be that good at this she comforted herself.

All eyes turned to Eddie. "Why, with Emma my new girl friend." Eddie smiled from ear to ear.

"What??" (everyone)

Crash's jaw dropped! Eddie was there in an instant to catch him before he fell face first into the dirt. "Don't worry bro," He said reassuringly,"she has a sister." He wriggled his eye brows to imply some implications as he felt Crash recover and compose himself.

"Oh! Well that's ok then." Crash relaxed, able to breathe again. Whatever Eddie was going through they would always go through it together, that's what twins do! "So what's she like?"

"Eddie anything could have happened, you should have left a note, or called in sooner and what's her name anyway, and how did you meet, and who spoke first?" Ellie never could be angry with her brothers for long.

"We can talk on the way." This was it Manny thought, they could get moving without any more glitches and make their destination with time to spare!

"On the way where?" Sid pulled himself awake; they had stayed out on the snow slopes far too long last night and ached today for it.

Manny sighed impatiently as he explained. "There is a herd I would like to meet beyond the next valley, and I would like to meet them before they move on i.e. this year, so if we all move closer then it just might happen."

"Wait," Sid struggled to think what was being said over Manny's deep rumbling growl of frustration."So, are we going to meet your folks?"

"No you are meeting no one, you can come some of the way, and then wait out of the way until I can be sure they will tolerate smelly sloths, which they won't."

"We embarrass you! I would introduce you to my family." Sid's eyes narrowed at the injustice of it all, sure they would probably hate him but still they should not be denied the opportunity to know for sure that they hated him.

"The same family that dumped you Sid? And dumped you for the same reason I would like you to stay out of the way until I've met them first?"

"Well" Sid struggled for an argument, his eyebrows twitched as he grasped at possible retorts.

"Walk and talk Sid." they fell into an orderly line with Manny leading at a fast pace in hope that Sid might fall behind, but Sid's legs could waddle surprisingly fast when necessary.

"Wasn't I the leader of this herd don't I get a say about..."

"No Sid, you were leader and we have sat still for weeks, now I am leader and we are moving again. You can resume leadership again when we get closer to that herd and you can sit out of sight for as long as you like."And so they argued...

Next in line were Diego and Ellie who looked at each other "Anything could happen on the way!" Ellie giggled with all the enthusiasm of a child at Christmas.

"And it usually does." Diego replied, so long as it didn't involve cliffs and water he was up for anything.

Behind followed Peaches and Snowball who non-verbally argued by the means of face pulling all the way.

* * *

A few miles later

"Boy I'm beat and hungry why don't we stop for lunch?" Sid exclaimed as he fell back onto his seat for added emphasis.

"We are still in sight of where we started from!" Manny replied "Look, there is mountain of discarded nut shells you littered the place with when you found that huge stash in the hollow tree."

Sid looked back. He could kind of make out the peak of his litter pile. "Some of us didn't get to eat breakfast today you know!"

"Oklisten we, as in me and Ellie and Peaches, will meet you (Manny waves his trunk over the less rational/plausible grouping of Sid Diego and Snowball) over the far side of the valley. In fact if we aim for that distinctive rock, the one that looks kind of like a whale." They all squint to the far side of the valley floor. The rock did indeed look like an angry whale; Sid gulped involuntarily at the distance. Manny continued regardless"Now I recon I could reach that in a day so let's say we will meet you there in two."

Diego looked around and assessed the situation, Snowballs short legs Sid's lazy butt, the fresh caribou tracks that headed away to the left of Manny's chosen path, an opportunity not to be missed! "OK, two days."

Manny pondered that would give him all today to get there and all tomorrow to meet, "sounds good." He said rather unconvincingly. He was feeling irrationally uncomfortable about this all of a sudden. This was not what a herd does and although he tried to tell himself he did not care his feet had become rooted to the spot, sure Sid was slow and annoying but...and no one seemed to understand the importance of this trip to him. He was both angry at Sid for wanting to eat and at himself for suggesting they split, but it was a good idea. Yet he could not move from the spot.

Diego recognized Manny's hesitation for what it was. Doing right by your family and doing right by your unconventional herd was causing conflict here. "Manny I've got a few things I need to do that's going to be out of the way for you, so you go ahead its ok."

A look of relief crossed Manny's brow, he was not leaving them because he was angry, but because they had different objectives, this was ok, this he could live with. "I will uh, see you guy's tomorrow night then?"

"Sure." (Diego)

"See ya!" Sid waved as he led his half of the herd off, not quite in the same direction that they came from but near enough to cause Diego to grit his teeth in annoyance as he followed.

Manny watched them go for some moments before finding his resolve and continuing on his march, Peaches reached for his tail with her trunk and Ellie (with sleeping possums on her back) followed a little behind glancing back every now and again...

* * *

"Sid. Sid. SID, can we start turning in the right direction now?"

"I don't think I can go hunting again so soon guys, I can only take soo much boredom, or stalking or whatever you want to call it."

"Sleep that's all you have to do, sleep and wait. It's all you do anyway, what's the big deal? You got anything better to do, coz so long as your kid gets fed at the end I'm open to suggestions."

"I'll have to work on it, but ok for now we will do it your way for the last time."

"It's only the second time Sid we've got a long way to go before he's grown." They turned slightly in direction, not quite enough for Diego but enough to keep from returning from where they had started.

"This time can I help?" Said Snowball a little tired of following quietly behind.

"No."

Diego always answered him as sharply as possible. Although Snowball could respect the 'big boss' attitude, he was now at that age when more input was necessary for an answer, so his "Why?" was inevitable.

Diego heaved a sighed that Snowball had't learnt not to ask questions of his leader, then tutted to himself because he was never going to be that ridged, narrow sighted leader Soto was. He then tutted again since when did he think himself the leader of a pack consisting of a cub and a sloth? This was a circumstantial rabble nothing more, just a rabble he would not chose to be without.

"Yeah why not?" Sid echoed, "S'not as if he can do any worse that you did."

"Sure he could. He could get himself trampled for a start." Oops too sharp a criticism, he was going to have to lighten up here, but how "Convince me you can at least stalk oh I don't know who's got nothing else to do and is in life a natural target? Sid! Practice on Sid for the next 100 hours and when you're ready you can help hunt." There it would never happen, yet he had compromised, been exceedingly reasonable by cat standards. So why did he feel rather like Manny, maybe they were too alike in avoidance tactics, well with Sid as a common enemy that was bound to happen.

Snowball narrowed his eyes in focus, just nail this and he is on to the big game! All right! He smiled wickedly to himself 'chase and pounce' big time!

Diego smiled to himself he will never accomplish that the kid is so slow! And Sid smiled finally they were a working inseparable unit, Manny had left for now but this half of the herd would never leave him, he was their leader. As they walked the texture of the ground changed subtlety under foot. Diego noticed the lack of structure under his paws and a faint foreign scent, more so when Sid's waddling foot fall caused the ground beneath them to wobble, shake and finally give way, the three fell suddenly into darkness.

Landing naturally on his feet Diego was the first to asses there new situation. The smell of man was now undeniable. They had not fallen far, maybe twenty feet or so into a pit. The lose fern and branch covering above them now fell away where they had fallen through revealing sharpened upward pointed sticks lining the bottom of the pit, luckily no one was hurt, but if they had been the size of a mammoth say... Diego gulped, a tooth lined pit! Very deadly. He studied the smooth sides for a way out but no grip or hold could be seen. Next he tried jumping at the corners but being a big cat he was too heavy for his claws to pull him up enough to jump out. After a few attempts at the walls he devised a new plan. Sid climb me and Snowball climb Sid, maybe we can get close enough for Snowball to climb out. Sid looked away. He knew Snowball was too weak to pull himself out but said nothing, you had to hope so climbed up onto Diego's back then shoulders and finally head, reaching up to the claw marks Diego had left in the walls looking for a grip to get out with but finding nothing. "Come on Snow" he beckoned. Snow climbed clumsily up using his claws at every step causing both to wince. When he finally reached Sid's clawed hands the light of freedom seemed just as far as he clawed uselessly at the smooth sides.

Snowball felt hope fail as he placed his paw unexpectedly on a soft furry trunk and jumped with surprise. Looking up his eyes met with Ellie's as she gripped his paw and pulled him (gently this time) out into the light and set him down beside her. Sid looked up as Snowball became weightless above him and floated off, the thought "He can fly!" just flickered passed as Ellie's trunk reached back down to find him also and pull him up to freedom. Diego had to jump to reach her but he finally made it out and cursed under his breath that after just five minutes away from the mammoths and he had already fallen off a stupid cliff of sorts. Well at least unlike the others this one was kind of concealed, he let himself off with a mere rap, anyone could have fallen into that, anyone. He was not the original 'Wylie Coyote', just unlucky is all. "Thanks Ellie, how did you know?"

"Oh, all this worry about missing a bit of adventure had to pay off eventually! I looked back and saw you disappear, I was kinda hopping you had fallen a little further than that, like miles but, well all's well that ends well! Now if you will excuse me I had better catch up with Manny!"

"Wow what was that?" said Sid as they continued on watching the ground now as much as their surroundings.

"A man trap." Diego answered, there was a lot more to this man beast than met the eye. They looked so weak, yet they were so successful in both catching prey and killing off their adversary i.e. big cats. He needed to know more about them, especially if he did not want to fall prey to them like his original pack.

* * *

Manny marched near nonstop all day, quietly Pondering what he was doing, It just didn't feel right without his herd, it's only till tomorrow night he told himself. They stopped at the meet spot to sleep. "Well big day tomorrow." He said to try lighten the mood as they settled under the overhang that formed the rock whale's nose. With no Sid, so no fire they sat silently in the dark, very aware that the rock whale was frowning down at them. They listened to the night time noises of the flat treeless plains around them, sound seemed to travel very well here. A strange deep bellowing far off, a scuffling nearby and of course the useral cricket chirp and owl hoot, With no fire (night light) all seemed very close and frightening. Suddenly a load piercing scream made them jump. Eyes twitched to fellow herd members, what makes that evil noise? Sort of an unworldly banshees cry of pain and tortured suffering.

"I sure hope that's its call and not its victim being eaten." Joked Manny.

"Shh Peaches!" Ellie reminded him, she didn't need to know that things were being eaten out there, if she was honest it was more because she didn't need to know there were things being eaten out there, that cry had sent a shiver of fear that ran straight to her core.

"Dinos remember? She has seen scarier and bigger than whatever that is." Manny replied.

"I'm not scared." Peaches said bravely. (about time I had her say something)

"That's great hon. coz there is nothing to be scared of I'm sure." Said Ellie in a less convincing voice than her daughter. "Why don't you check it out?" She looked to Manny.

"Now? I can't see a thing!" The piercing shriek sounded again closer this time, Manny readied himself to fend off whatever it was that was coming.

Eddie however remembered someone "Emma?" he called out into the darkness.

"Eddie is that you?" came a girls voice from the darkness.

"Wow she sounds nice." Manny whispered to Ellie.

"Shhh. Be nice!" She whispered back.

"No way! After all that grief they gave me when we met, this is pay back time!"

"Manny you are going to have to be big about this, she is his first girl friend so you can't tease him about her yet!"

Manny grumbled.

"Maybe later ok?" Ellie compromised.

"Emma over here, how'd you find us?" Another possum joined the two already in sight, Manny grumbled some more.

"Like I said my sisters an excellent tracker."

"Where is she?" Crash asked tentatively from behind Eddie, possibly so as not to seem too forward.

"Looking for food. You must be Crash, I've heard lot's about you, and this must be your sister?"

"Yeah my big sister, her kid peaches, my brother Crash and my brother in law Manny." Eddie pointed each herd member out in turn.

"I am not your brother in law!" Manny grimaced at the thought of being any way related to a possum, especially that possum.

"You will have to excuse him, he has anger issues." Eddie whispered quite loudly.

"Well it's nice to meet you all." Said Emma sweetly.

"And it's lovely to meet you too." Said Ellie, boy do I sound like mum she thought!

"Well we'll be off now, so see ya in the morning guys."Eddie waved to the mammoths and leptoff, Emma gavea shy wave and followed. Crash stood alone shuffling his feet.

"Hey are you coming?" Came Eddie's voice from the darkness.

Crash smiled from ear to ear "You bet!" and raced after them.

Ellie bit her tongue at the urge to call after them not to be back too late."Well she seems nice." She said instead.

"She seems like any other possum and we already have two too many. It won't be long before we are outnumbered by them." Manny replied wryly.

"You have a lot of trouble expressing love sometimes, if I didn't know you better I would think you meant those words. Luckily I know you better." Ellie teased.

Manny mumbled a bit. Three was a very small number (when you were referring to mammals other than possums, and sloths) and that was what they were currently reduced to. Sure these were his favourite herd members, and sure he knew that being different species they were bound to go their separate ways eventually but this seemed so soon. He returned his thoughts to tomorrow's encounter. Ellie and Peaches snuggled a little closer away from the night time sounds.

"How about we talk about tomorrow, tell Peaches what other mammoths are like?" Ellie smiled reassuringly to Manny, that would get his mind off his missing herd.

Manny smiled grateful for the distraction and began to describe to Peaches all about mammoth culture without any distractions from the non mammoths in the herd. Peaches listened patiently as did Ellie, but both were soon asleep as Manny's voice droned on about stuff that didn't involve giant possums exploding stuff. Manny sighed, well tomorrow they would see and understand why this was so important to him, but for now he too settled to sleep.

* * *

Together the three possums raced through the night time landscape of powder snow and long spring grass until they reached some foliage in which to search for their favourite foods. Food for these guys consisted of insects, eggs, fruits and seeds among other things. These were found in abundance among this rarely visited oasis of trees in the middle of the open valley floor.

After a while they satisfied their appetites and sat to talk, Eddie turned to Crash, "So Emma," he began.

"Yes Eddie." Crash replied fluttering his eye lids as best he could.

"AHHHHH." Eddie looked his brother up and down, of course it was Crash, what was he thinking? He turned to the only other possum, but heaved a groan of annoyance instead of his question as he found she was giggling at his mistake. "Well I did say you looked like him."

"I bet that's why you like her so much?" Crash commented unashamedly.

Eddie shot his brother a cold look.

"So what do you guys do for fun?" Emma interrupted the heated atmosphere that was building.

"Well," answered Crash instantly "first we find an arsenal of possible weapons and tools to aid us in tomorrow's pranks, and then we play 'buck master of the dino'......... wit swords........." Eddie wrestled Crashes mouth tightly shut.

"We ah, protect our herd from night time predation with swords and traps and stuff, you know responsible grown up, dangerous stuff."

"Ooo, very impressive." Emma replied with only a mild touch of sarcasm. "So not much time for fun then?"

"We manage to get a little play time in now and again; you know no work and no fun makes......Um..."

Emma waited patiently for the conclusion Eddie was struggling to reach "Makes what?"

Crash struggled free from Eddies grip "Makes you dumb that's what. We just muck about all night every night we both know that!"

"No we don't we are not kids anymore!"

We were the day before yesterday, before you got boring!"

"I'm sorry Emma my brother has moments of madness from being such a baby an all, just ignore him, I always do."

Emma eyed them both; she was going to have fun with these two. Just then out of the darkness Fleet trotted over to meet them.

Crash's eyes went wide as he saw the wolf and before he could stop himself his body became ridged and he collapsed into a dead pose, a useless defence in this situation as climbing the trees surrounding them would have been a better option but sometime you just could not control your instincts. Emma (who had not learnt this classic possum defence method) laughed hysterically at Crash seeming to faint with fear.

Embarrassed Eddie kicked his brother on the rump "Dude this is Emma's sister! Now get up already!" Eddie tried to bite down the frustration in his voice, he was beginning to sound and feel a bit like Manny, but he could not stop the little voice of doubt in the back of his mind whispering (is Crash the reason why you have never really grown up in all these years?) He pulled Crash to his feet, dusted him off like he was half his size and told him quite firmly "you are to stay with Fleet she is your play date while myself and Emma enjoy a real date see you later brother." And with that Eddie took Emma gently but firmly by the arm and led her away.

Crash and fleet stared after them both with jaws agape. For Fleet this was her usual expression with tongue lolling, but for Crash realisation was dawning that he was being dumped for this lookie likie with curve appeal. Something heavy (It could have been that last beetle) plummeted inside him leaving his chest feeling insanely hollow.

After a few minutes he turned to address his fellow abandoned companion. He stared first at her huge feet, a bit of rabbit fur was stuck to her long black claws, he shivered. Next he took in her long fast legs and made a mental note that he was doomed. Then her lithe tall shoulders reaching high above his head, her very pointy ears, and her long muzzle showing row upon row of cruel pointy teeth. His eyes finally settled on her long pink tongue which seemed to be pulsating as she breathed, a long string of slobber hung from the end, it bounced hypnotically with each breath, yet never let go. Frozen by fear or rejection or maybe both, Crash stared at that tongue for a long time feeling endlessly numb. Feeling a little bored Fleet turned her head to address her new friend, the string of slobber hit Crash between the eyes waking him from his stupor in time to cringe with fear as the teeth moved closer to his head ready to snap him up, or so he thought.

"Hi I'm Fleet." Said the wolf in a very polite way. She wondered why her new friend was cowering, then noticed she had accidentally slobbered him. She self-consciously stepped back drawing her tongue back into her mouth so not to drool again, she ashamedly looked away.

With the teeth put away Crash found he could regain the power to breathe easy again "Crash." He replied wiping his face with his arm only to find that there was enough of this stuff to fill a small puddle. He laughed absentmindedly as it gooed the fur on both his face and arms stringing them together with transparent cords. "Urgh, cool gunk. Did you make it yourself?"

Fleet smiled at this, causing her tongue to loll out again, she was relieved not to have offended Crash.

The teeth did not seem quite so threatening this time, but caution still nagged "Are you going to eat me?"

"Not yet." She smiled teeth ran all the way as far as the eye could see down the abyss that was her throat. "Do you like to go fast?"

"What do you mean?" despite the fact that he had no chance of getting away he found himself edging back as she lowered her shoulder to him.

"Jump on I'll show you my favourite game, we go fast, then faster."

"Ok."Crash slowly climbed on disbelieving his body was doing this. He could feel the steady chugging of her lungs from where he sat filling him with a strange enthusiasm. Looking ahead his sight was directed by her pointy ears to a point on the distant horizon.

"Hold tight," She commanded," Now we go fast!" And they seemed to accelerate from 0 to 20 in no time flat clearing the ground beneath them effortlessly! Horizons came and went in a blink, antelope raced beside them clearing them a path, water splashed beneath rushing up in plumes behind them, Crashes tongue fell out his mouth to flag behind his face as they raced on through the night...........

* * *

Mean while Eddie and Emma walked under a star filled sky hand in hand oblivious to their siblings.

"So tell me Emma how is it that you came to be calling a wolf sister?" Eddie asked in his best grown up, edging on weird eccentric English voice.

"Well," She paused for effect while she wondered whether or not to reply in a posh tone herself, and decided oh why not? "I was snatched from my real mother by a wolf who rather than eat me gave me to her only cub to practice the fine art of hunting on. Well she left her cub to it as it were, and I thought I was as good as dead when I discovered that this cub was lonely. Left alone all day while the pack hunted and now to practice her skills I found that she was struggling to kill the only thing that would keep her company, so we agreed to be sisters and never to part."

"Did the other wolves accept you as one of the pack?"

"Well of course they did!" Emma snapped, quickly she recovered herself and continued politely "So tell me Eddie how is it that your sister happens to be a mammoth?"

Eddie had been quite shocked at Emma's response to his question, was shocked further by her u-turn in temper and baffled as to how to respond to it all!He came to the simple yet satisfying conclusion that girls are weired and carried on like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. "Ellie was lost in the snow one cold night, we never found out how she came to be alone but my mother took her in and did her best to raise her. We could have done a better job in hind sight by telling her she was a mammoth, would have saved years of funny but unnecessary confusion. But you just can't make up some of those precious moments of innocent misunderstanding, and it all worked out in the end."

"So she was a baby when you were a baby?"

"Yes, we three grew up together."

"And how many years does it take for a mammoth to mature, eight or nine is it?"

"Yeah about that,so."

"Only when I met you yesterday you were sad about having to grow up. So doesn't that make you a bit slow?"

"No, everyone knows that girls mature way faster than boys."

"But possums take two years, so that's like many years too many, Hell some would have had a mid life crisis or two in that time! Why didn't you just give up? Or get bored trying?"

"Because untill now I never started. Well maybe this is me grown up, maybe you don't really change and become all boring and responsible, maybe you are who you are and that will never change!. I just need to accept that this is who I really am!"

"Well said you can move on now and have fun again playing, what was it? Buck and something with swords?"

"Buck king of dino land, hey you can play if you like! you fight huge monsters with swords and, and....I should really apologise to my brother, I've been a right jerk."

"He's off with Fleet; she was really looking forward to her first date."

"Ha, like puppy love!"

"Well something like that probably won't see him again for a while."

"What shall we do in the mean time I only have fun with him?"

"We will think of some games I'm sure." (bit sinister)


	5. more kids

Don't own, just like messing with it.

* * *

Ellie was not surprised to find her brothers missing the next morning, they really were growing up it seemed. She sighed softly to herself, she liked them as they were; she liked the herd as it was, why did things have to change?

"Let's go!" Manny smiled enthusiastically the sooner he had his mind occupied the sooner he could forget about his missing herd members, they had only been a part a short while but it was the first night he Sid and Diego had been away from each other since they met however long ago that was.

Ellie tried to mirror his strength and determination "Times a wastin!"

"But my family is missing! Can't we go look for them?" Peaches had yet to learn to read into the subtleties of the unsaid word, her words pang the heart strings of her formally strong parents.

"We will see them later they have their own games to play today hon."

"Without me?" Her big eyes and wobbling lip made it hard to imagine there was anything out there beside Peaches.

"You will understand when you grow up." Manny hated saying that line.

"We will see them all here later, but first we have some new friends to meet." Ellie tried, that seemed to brighten Peaches outlook. Together they ate a quiet breakfast as they headed up over the steep valley wall towards the yet unseen mammoth herd.

Soon enough the ground became very trampled with the coming and goings of so many large feet and the shapes of distant mammoths could be seen. It was going to be strange being the same size as everyone else. Ellie tried to count how many mammals were gathered but found it imposable, like before when they had met another herd the mass movement of many bodies made it hard to establish where one started and another ended. She could however make out the different clicks, the very small calves and mums, the teenagers, the tear a ways, the gossips, the big bulls, some general millers. All looked bored, possums never had this problem.

Peaches ran excitedly towards some kids her own size, Ellie chased after her with the intention of bringing her back to Manny, but as is always the way, found herself surrounded by chatty mums cooing over Peaches. With no room for escape she looked back to where Manny was last standing only to see him becoming lost in a group of large males.

"Let's keep together, try not to get lost" Manny said to himself as he looked around to find that he was surrounded by strangers. One big grey bull in particular was not going to let him go without telling him everything about himself. This bull went by the name 'big Mick' and seemed to be chief elder if not the leader of this herd.

"Hello mate, I've not seen you around these parts before have I? So what's your story?" "Ah?" Boy it really was strange talking to mammals of the same height, and those pointy tusks aimed directly at him weren't half intimidating "We were just passing by, we're from east of here."

"East huh, anything happening that way? I travel more north to south, got to be a bit backward to want to go east to west." He eyed Manny up and down assessing him thoroughly, this was a strange mammoth he could feel it.

"Well where ever our feet take us rather than direction."Manny offered.

"Good, good, a bit of exploration was never a bad thing, so where is the rest of your herd?"

"Uh there is only the three of us mammoths in my herd, us and some friends travel together."

"What kind of friends?"

"The non-mammoth kind?" Manny studied Mick's reaction; this was not the norm but not completely out of the boundaries of acceptability so long as he didn't mention what kind of non-mammoths they were. Mick seemed to think about this some, there were no other species among this herd Manny noted.

"Come over here so we can all talk and keep an eye over things." And that was it Manny was accepted into the 'men's club' Mick had put his suspicions aside as any bloke who only had females for company would end up a bit peculiar. Hanging out with this herd and doing a few manly things was probably all that was needed to put him straight. "There's been some strange goings on lately, maybe with your fresh eyes you might help us get to the bottom of it all." Mick led them over to his favourite view point where they stood watching over the vast valley pastures and the herds moving over them grazing. Because any nice weather was short lived in the ice age it was what could be considered early summer with the flush of growth accompanying this spate of warm plus 4 daytime temperatures.

"Mammoths have been going missing of late," Mick explained to Manny as the others were well aware of the problem, just stumped at the cause. "More than old age and poor health alone would explain, and then yesterday I saw something strange. We worked hard over the years clearing the cave lions from this territory making it safe for our families; I for one won't let them creep back in." This was a bull mammoth's job; it was what they did, protect their herd; Mick spoke solemnly, other mammoths nodded sagely in agreement. "Lesser mammal's survival depends on our help so they tend to keep close for protection that is why we can understand you travelling with other species." Mick paused as if to let the idea of such a thing get as far away from him as possible before continuing. " Although I wouldn't Bill here keeps a few bison," He motioned towards Bill a big yet cross eyed looking chap with a few flies buzzing around him and few mammoths anywhere near him."And last year we stayed quite close to some caribou. We can be very open minded about these things." This was the first that some had known of Mick's tolerance but they all nodded anyway; better to give a united front than to bicker over the changing of opinion.

Manny realised he was considered odd.

"Look! Those dam tigers are back. Just as we get rid of those evil cave lions another load of rotten cats come out to take their place!" Everyone squinted to where Mick was focusing; a small tan tiger was indeed crouching out of sight to the herds below.

"Just watch these tiger's lads you will see what I'm talking about."

"Well they do have as much right to the land as we do." Manny regretted instantly not biting his tongue, but it was only one little tan blob in a sea of huge herd animals what was the big deal?

"Yeah is that so? Your soft in the head Manny, you've spent too much time with.... what did you say you were hooked up with? "

"I didn't, but there's like the usual, a err... sloth and possums and such..." Manny watched Mick cringe.

"No accounting for taste but if you like 'em." Then he added in a low mutter to himself," smelly, always getting under your feet. Still always easy to replace 'em if you did happen to step..."

"They are fun to have around too." Well he couldn't deny it they were smelly, well one was but he was smelly enough for eight, and they did get under your feet, most days he or Ellie either kicked or trod on Diego who would choose to sleep in the most irritating places. Manny felt he was ever so alone in his opinion on living with such small mammals, so shut up and watched the tan coloured blob melt into the long grasses far below. Nothing happened for a while, then a darker, tawnier tiger appeared further out then the other, it was creeping up to a full grown adult long horned bison of all things (See cover of Beasts of Eden at Amazon for pic!). Manny gulped, this was going to get messy, stupid little cat.

"Here that's the one!" Mick whispered," He's trouble that one! I don't mind a few rabbits or old gazelles, after all don't want the place getting over crowded, but this cheeky little fella, I saw him take out Nigel (Blank looks all around) You know Nigel that big antelope buck, not that I spent much time talking to him or nothing like that it's just I could see him without looking down so we'd say hi as you do. Now he was top of his game when I last saw him fit as you like and he was well armed too boot and that blighter walked right up to him and had him anyway! Well lads those tigers have to be put in their place or it will be mammoths next and we fear nothing! So I say let's give 'em the old what's for and get it over with, Manny your coming with us, a bit of man sports will save you from your knitting circle routine back home."

"Those little Tigers aren't that dangerous, their actually quite tame even if you get to know them." Manny's words trailed off as he became aware of everyone staring at him. He really was struggling to make a good impression here with his big mouth! A little blue mammoth towards the back of the huddle let out a "cook- coo!" causing everyone to snicker at him.

"Ha ha funny joke huh guys." Manny chuckled nervously.

"Yeah Manny, you nearly had me there, real strange sense of humour you have there." Mick play punched Manny on the shoulder, despite his warm smile his eyes were dead serious "Real funny guy, predators are tame once you get to know em." He impersonated Manny's deep nasal voice. "We should all get together once in a while talk maybe invite them over for tea......" Now he trailed off as he noticed what was occurring down on the plains below. All laughter, including Manny's nervous laugh stopped as they too gazed at the cloud of dust and powered snow blossoming in the distance. They all strained their eyes too see as slowly it cleared to reveal the tawny blob that was the tiger sitting on a very still brown blob that had been the bison. "Why that little..." Bill began " He's done it again lads, getting far too cocky, stepping right out of line, right then anyone who tramples one of 'em gets named king for the day, let's go lads."

Manny stayed where he was unsure, chasing and trampling tigers was going to be far too much like chasing and trampling Diego; he couldn't really bring himself to do it. Dust flew all around him kicked up by the stampeding mammoths, as it cleared Mick stood staring at Manny, they were alone.

"Clearly you have spent far too much time around your cute little animals and your girls, you have gone soft Manny, just as I suspected. Now you are coming with us, you are going to chase some predators and you are going to act like the bull mammoth you are!" Mick hooked Manny's tusk with his own dragging him along.

"Wait I do protect them when we are threatened, I have protected them from predators so big you could not imagine! But you can't fight nature, you can't see off every threat before it happens, there are only a two tigers down there and ten of us bull mammoths here there's no threat." Just as he said it Manny saw three tigers rush out, now there were four of them.

"And there's more where they came from" Mick warned "we must attack now before their leader old Dave catches up. He is a big old boy that Dave and then we will need our numbers as he can sort this rabble into an organised pack and kill which ever mammoth he so chooses. So Manny we must keep 'em under control, it is our duty to our mates and the smaller critters that graze here because they know so long as mammoths patrol these lands they are safe, we can't let them down!"

He was right of course, he needed to protect before attack as well! Peaches needed to be kept safe and it was his responsibility to keep her safe. Manny strode forward with purpose, these sabres were not Diego, they were a threat.

"Ah that's the spirit!" Mick felt the resistance in Manny give as instinct kicked in. "Knew there was still a mammoth in there, stick with us and we will sort you out."

* * *

Meanwhile Ellie talked girl talk with the ladies of the herd. Well mostly an old girl called Jan, who spoke for everyone.

"So you say you're the only female in the group Ellie, must get a little boring."

"How do you mean? Blokes can do pretty much as much as us girls, just not as well, and no two things at the same time, which slows us down considerably." Ellie thought of how they always seemed to be stopping to rest despite the fact that both she and Peaches were desperate to keep searching for adventure.

"No I mean conversation wise, no who's dating who scenarios, no gossip! Poor thing, still I bet organising them is easy." Jan was the chief female of her own herd and very used to taking new girls under her wing.

"Huh?" Organisation? The word just didn't register on Ellie's radar, other than maybe doing a head count in the morning.

"Deciding where to go and when? You know taking charge?" Jan took in Ellie's blank expression. " Oh no! You're the matriarch, the herd leader the most important one! You look for signs, like when the weather will be best to visit such and such a place for the best eating or sunbathing or whatever you like best, you just say 'were off' and they follow."

"Oh, well the sloth does that in my herd at the moment, or at least should do that but we don't seem to do anything lately." (Ellie)

"Well, a sloth is a better choice of leader than a man I'm sure, but Ellie that is your job to take lead. Has no one ever showed you how to take charge?" (Jan)

"Well no." (Ellie)

"Then we shall have to teach you. We will start with the art of gossip, a very important tool to women, used to assess the mood and problems within the herd and keep in touch with what is happening from everyone's point of view. Now what is happening within your herd at the moment?" (Jan)

"Well, nothing great." Not compared to floods and dinosaurs anyway. The next thing that was occupying her mind was her missing brothers. "I'm sure it's nothing but well my brothers are trying to grow up bless 'em, and there is a little romance in the air, but whether or not it is real or imaginary is another thing, I guess I will know for sure when I get back to them." (Ellie)

"No wrong answer, men can't do for themselves, you can't just leave them to it. You have to take control Ellie and guide them. Now are they ready for a relationship?" (Jan)

"I suppose." Ellie remembered how important this all was to Manny so tried not to curb her rebellious nature.

"Are they good girls? Good enough for you brothers?" (Jan)

"Well Emma seems nice, I have not met the other one, but they are sisters so..." (Ellie)

"Very suspicious, must be something to hide, surprises are never a good thing. I shall show you how to asses someone for sure to know if they are good or not, for example you can tell a lot about someone from their hair alone. How much time do you think she spends on her hair?" And so it went on.... Ellie nodded her head often and smiled politely but secretly wished she was anywhere else. After what seemed like forever Ellie noticed the group with Manny in looking to the far distance and laughing amongst themselves. Suddenly they became very serious.

"Where are they going?" Ellie could not help but notice the gang of bulls disappear at full pelt downhill out of sight.

"Throw their weight around a bit," Said Jan unimpressed. "Makes them feel important, just ignore them, then pretend to be impressed when they come back with the old 'we're the man stories'."

"But that looks fun!" Before she knew it Ellie's legs were carrying her off after them.

The remaining girl's tutted as they watched her go," We may have our work cut out for us here girls; she has clearly spent too much time in an all male herd poor thing. It must have sent her barmy, well it is up to us to teach her how to be a sensible proud female! After all she is a fellow mammoth." (Rip off from Dumbo story here if I think about it, but these are hairy pachyderms so it's ok)

Soon Ellie had caught up with Manny, her cheeks glowed and her eyes shone, she felt elated to be running with the herd, the thunder of feet the trumpet of trunks as they raced. "What are we doing?" she called over her shoulder too him.

"Stampeding lass," Mick answered before Manny could speak "This is no place for a girl! Go back to the safety of the herd!"

But Ellie did not hear as she had over taken and was now gaining on the leader of the race. Well Manny had promised this trip would be fun and this sure was! Dust and powdered snow flew up all around her as she over took the fastest male with a "woo whoooo", and left them for dust as she lead the way to the plains below.

* * *

Diego had been pushed off of his kill before he had even had the chance to eat. Now he returned to the trees where he had left Sid and Snowball. There was nothing but big game around here and he had really risked his neck making that kill after waiting all night for anything more suitable to come along.

"Wow those girls really are bullies" Sid sighed. They had waited ages to get that food and it was going to be ages again before the next meal Sid could feel it.

Diego shrugged he did not need an audience to his defeat; he needed a few more of his own kind to defend his food. He sat and watched the three females tearing away at his prize and remembered before when he had liked Sara, before her cubs and appetite had exploded, he kind of hoped she'd get blown up by a giant possum right now.

"Oh look!" Sid perked up," I think Manny's going to sort them out for you!"

He looked over to where Sid was looking mammoths were indeed stampeding in this direction their thunderous footfalls beginning to fill the wide valley floor with a sound like thunder. As soon as he had spotted them the noise became deafening.

"That's not Manny Sid!" (Diego)

"No look its Ellie! She is going to tell those bullies off for you, probably put them over her knee ha!"(Sid)

"Let's move out of the way." (Diego)

"But then she will miss us!" (Sid)

"I don't think they left us to hang out with their own kind today only to run into us again so soon. Come on those big pines look safe." (Diego)

As they ventured over they came across Eddie wandering aimlessly calling "Marco" to no one.

"What you doing?" Asked Sid.

"Looking for Crash." he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We got separated last night"

"We are meeting Ellie up in those trees; we just got to get high enough so she can see us through all this grass, coming?" (Sid)

"Sure." (Eddie)

Sid was made for climbing trees and did so effortlessly pushing Snowball up as he went, Eddie also raced up, Diego however struggled to reach the lowest limb.

"Come on already Diego you can see everything from here!" Sid called down.

Diego was tired and hungry and that branch was just out of his reach. He sat down exhausted, maybe he would just stay down here.

"Oh come on! Do you need me to teach you to climb too? Cause I will!" (Sid)

Out from the grass Crash appeared "Hey I thought I heard you guy's what you doing?"

"Keeping out of the way from stampeding mammoths." Diego replied "Think they own the place."

"Don't listen to him we are watching Ellie with her new friends whipping some bullies butts!" corrected Sid.

"Wow I knew she would be a hit with the mammoths, after all she was with the possums, go Ellie!" And with that he ran up the tree to watch. Diego's eyes followed him up looking for clues as to how he climbed so easily, when his gaze rested on a suspicions patch of dappled light above them. It took a moment but he recognized it, it was a leopard preparing to pounce on the four defenceless idiots in its tree! How the hell he ever found the time to hunt when keeping Sid alive alone was a full time job he never knew. He dug real deep this time and found the extra height he needed to get up.

"There not that hard if you believe in yourself." Said a proud Sid.

"Piece of cake." Diego commented while glaring up at the leopard who tucked itself neatly against the tree trunk out of sight; with his herd safe he too looked out at the mammoths as they scatter the sabres. What goes around comes around after all, he thought with a little satisfaction that Sara at least didn't get to eat much of his kill, but a little disappointment that someone else had chased her off.

With the tigers gone the mammoths began to head off.

"Wait Ellie!" Crash struggled to get her attention they were just too small, so threw a well aimed pine cone hitting her behind the ear.

"Ouch, Hey guys!" Ellie's face lit up seeing her friends, she had really missed them.

"Look the cost is clear for you to eat now." Sid observed gratefully, no more boring hunting after all!

"We should stick together." Cautioned Diego, Sid was after all perfect prey being so slow and fat, and with three hungry sabres as well as other unknown threats leaving him behind while he and Snowball ate was not a good option.

"No way you guy's eating is too gross to even think about." (Sid)

"Fine but if anything should happen to these guys while I'm gone." Diego seemed to be talking to himself Sid looked around.

"Fine I won't touch them!" a female voice returned the possums jumped and looked up but could not focus on any one until she spoke again and the movement of her spotted coat gave her away as something other than dappled light "Easier said than done however if you were to share that meal with me I could guarantee my good behaviour."

"Done." Two cats exited the tree in one fluid motion she was smaller than Diego by a third had a long twitchy tail, no sabres and looked generally like a snow leopard. She made to go but waited, Diego looked back up the tree to Snowball. "Come on jump down!"

"It's too high!" Snowball called down.

"Then climb down" Diego returned, it was too high to jump, but the kid had to toughen up and think for himself in order to over come this problem. Snowball tried clumsily to hold the branch while swinging his rear out to slide down fireman style, but could not take his last foot off of the safe branch, he was just so high.

"I can't" Snowball finally admitted. Sid grimaced the kid looked so awkward.

"You have to listen to Sid's lessons you know!" Diego could feel his temper rising, not that he cared but this kid was going to have to fend for himself someday.

Ellie approached them. "Need a lift?" She lowered Snowball down.

Snowball could not rely on help from non-cats like that Diego thought before becoming acutely aware of how he himself relied on mammoths to not fall off of ledges more often than not, so bit his tongue at that. Ellie thought nothing of helping, that after all was what friends were for. She popped him down beside Diego and his new friend? She looked at the leopard questionably, waiting to be introduced, eventually she gave up he was obviously feeling a bit catty today. "Thanks for looking after my brothers." She said to Diego eventually.

"It's nothing." he replied.

"What do you mean we can look after ourselves?" Both possums announced with complete disbelief, they were still not being taken at all seriously!

"Of course you can." Ellie replied with only a mild sarcasm, she was shielding them from the other mammoths' sight knowing the exact opposite to be true.

"What are you doing over there lass?" Came big Mick's booming voice.

"Getting my friends!" Ellie called back. "You guys coming? It's as boring as hell talking to the females of this group I might need some of your comic relief to get through it!"

Manny breathed a sigh of relief as she held up her brothers to see, and no one else.

"Well stick with us while we patrol the area for trouble, don't want anyone being attacked by any hidden enemies." Mick called back.

"Ok!" She popped the possums on her back and then went to pick up Sid.

"I can look after him." Diego said indigently.

"Just thought you might appreciate some time to be you know a tiger." Ellie replied not meaning to step on toes so to speak.

"Thanks but no, besides he needs to teach Snowball to climb again it seems."

"Don't I get a say in this? I want a ride! I'll come back right after but it's boring while you uh be a predator. You wouldn't want to wait around all day while I did my thing." (Sid)

Well Diego had to admit that was true, "We will see you later then." He kicked snowball forward to emphasize their joint responsibility. He was not bringing this cub up alone here; he had better things to do than feed the bottomless little pit all day.

"Bye Sid." Snowball squeaked with forced tears, Sid was the only one who loved him and importantly the reason he was getting fed, he needed him on his side not riding off to play with mammoths.

"See ya!" Sid called without looking back.

Both cats stared in disbelief after the sloth before they crept behind Ellie safely back to the carcass where they hid behind till the Mammoths were gone.

"Why would a mammoth help you like that?" Asked the leopard (Pseudaelurus if you want to get technical)

"Long story" Diego replied too content to eat than chase her off as a sabre should.

"I have time" she was genuinely interested. Indeed interested enough to stay and eat on the ground rather than take a portion back to the safety of her tree.

"Another time maybe, you're awfully trusting, never had a sabre pull that stupid tail of yours?" The silly looking tail twitched and waved seemingly with a life of its own, it was all he could do not to swat at it.

"I've seen you about, your different to the other Sabres around here, are you taming cave lions to be less hostile?" She gestured to Snowball, who was stuffing his face like a kid in a Willy Wonka factory. He lifted his head to head from his food and spat through his bulging cheeks.

"I'm going to be the biggest, baddest predator around here one day so watch it spotty!" Said Snowball with all the arrogance he could muster.

"Yeah, you'd better hope so because you're the weakest in this crowd so shut up before you annoy someone". Diego could not help but think that's what I really used to be like, but the kid did have to learn to be a pack animal with rules and all that. He purposely continued to talk to the leopard to get the pack attitude out from his own system. "No plans, just didn't feel right letting the little guy fend for himself so, I guess I would help him out."

"Can we be the baddest predators around here?" In his mind Snowball was already a fearsome beast, king of the ice age, his imagination grew far faster than he did in reality.

"Yeah, we already are, don't see anyone else with an all you can eat steak."Diego said, but thought 'first lion I see you are so gone'.

"Snowball smiled, his white fur stained red with bits of meat sticking to his face it was a smile only a mother carnivore could appreciate.

Diego smiled back, he liked the cubs over sized attitude, maybe he would make sure it was a nice lion that he dumped the kid with.

"Shame" the leopard continued "you seem to use different species to your advantage a lion could be a good thing to have around. Too bad humans around here seem to target lions, he is the first I've seen for a while, this place used to be crawling with them. I didn't mind as they ate big game, mostly mammoths and my prey is small, so we rubbed along in our way. Now that they have gone and these sabres have moved in it's different. They are far less tolerant of other cats and our paths and prey species cross far too often."

"Well don't bother me and I won't bother you" (Diego)

"I know you don't hurt things that you talk to, that's why I'm making this effort to get to know you."

Damn, she had him sussed. "I'm still a sabre you know"

"No one's perfect, my name's Lisa by the way"

"Diego and" He wished for something more masculine "Snowball. Tell me what you know about cave lions, like where would they retreat to if their pack was threatened?"

"High up in the mountains, where the humans find the snow harder to negotiate, that's why I'm down here actually what few lions are left are angry, hungry, vicious things and they are not nice to be around so I moved. I used to tell them you know at least you have each other, and hope of reclaiming a pack and land one day, it's not like you're a leopard and expected to live on your own regardless of whether you want to or not. Shesh I mean all you can do for the whole year is talk to yourself, hope to remain sane enough for when the only bloke comes by once a year you can still remember how to converse without scaring him off too soon, and then you are persecuted by every living thing, it's more like being a leaper than a leopard, that's why I was so interested when I saw you, I thought maybe I could make friends with my food but so far It hasn't worked out, I get hungry and binge sometimes and well... I'm babbling aren't I, sorry it's just that it has been so long since I've talked to anyone."

Diego looked at Snowball, maybe he should keep the kid around at least until his herd got back together, he really did not want to end up insane. They continued to eat in silence, with Lisa making an effort to keep her cool.

* * *

"That lass of yours is alright! A true mammoth. But what are those weasels'? Toys for your kid?" Asked Mick of Manny.

"The possums are," Manny felt foolish saying brothers due to having to explain Ellie's odd past, as well as the fact that they acted like really mischievous children. "Well they are her childhood friends and the sloth is my friend from back when I lost my first family."

"Oh well you never said that before what happened?"

"Humans happened" Manny said bluntly.

"But they eat lions" Replied Mick stupidly.

"No they just kill them because they eat mammoths their favourite food. Where I come from Humans eat anything they can catch with pointy sticks and rocks." It seemed all so distant now but still anger crept into Manny's voice.

"Well maybe we will be keeping an eye on our humans then. Thought eating lions was a bit odd, they can't taste nice on account that they can't behave nice." (Mick)

Together they walked a circuit of the visible lowlands; Ellie walked a little way a head keeping company with Sid and the possums. Manny wished he could join them but just couldn't shake Mick. He no longer cared about Sid coming along however as there was no way Sid could do any worse than him at mucking things up with the mammoths.

Big Mick felt he needed to impress Manny if he was going to stay with the herd, this he felt was important as with so many mammoths going missing lately they needed every member, safety in numbers after all. Mick went out of his way to do some nice deeds as they walked breaking a frozen waterhole open allowing some anteaters to drink for a start. Then he sculptured some fun features into an existing ice bank to create some ice slides for the younger members of various herds found grazing here to enjoy, he even went as far as to check any pot holes for trapped voles!

Before long however Mick plus a few other older mammoth started to complain of arthritic pains and so left the younger members (excluding Manny and Ellie) to complete the survey while they headed back.

Although Manny saw straight through it Ellie was impressed by big Mick's caring side. "So what else do you guys do?" She asked.

"Well, there is forest clearing, boulder throwing, next month is wolf watch! Girl you would enjoy that! We find a good look out spot and watch for pesky wolves, and then we chase 'em, that's one for faster mammoths. You missed the cave bear bash, now that's a little trickier, they like to stand their ground, a sport for the strongest mammoths that.

"So basically you bully every predator in your path." Ellie cut in disgusted.

"Ellie." Manny cautioned."When in Rome!"

"It's ok Manny she is only a lass, why missy even our good ladies take for granted their safety these day's as we fellas have done such a good job keeping evil at bay. If we didn't why who could? Predators breed like vermin, if you can see one than there's a pack about with at least six cubs on the way. That's what I don't understand while herbivores only have one child at a time then why do carnivores have six? Makes no sense at all, mathematically they would wipe us all out if allowed. Thanks to us when you go home to your funny little herd they are still there, in fact all other species still exist at all thanks to us. There would just be sabres eating wolves, wolves eating lions, lions would eat bears and so forth, but when we chase off these evil blighters we allow for the existence of gentle deer and antelope and bunnies and even your dirty little rat friends there. Despite the fact that they carry every disease under the sun and smell, we tolerate and liberate them as diversity on our plains is.... well they must have some sort of reason to exist I don't know what they do exactly or why, but anyway."

"That's very big of you." Ellie said with a touch of sarcasm. She decided the women of the herd were right to ignore the men, what a load of hot air!

"So you'll both be staying for the night I trust? Tonight we will be recalling the tale of old blowhard the loudest mammoth of all time and how he formed the mountains and valleys we walk with his mighty blasts."

"Stories I love stories yes we are staying." Piped up Sid. Who went on to keep everyone up all night till they had recounted every tale no matter how stupid of how mammoths did absolutely everything. Manny was secretly proud of him and the possums for not interrupting this time but then the stories were being told by far better than he could have managed. Peaches had made a few new friends that day but rushed back to be with her uncles when she saw her parents return with them.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the designated meet spot Diego settled down to spend the night alone it seemed with Snowball. They curled up tight missing the fire that they had become accustomed to sleeping by. He wasn't lonely after all he was going to leave not long ago, wasn't he?

Sara very cautiously approached. She had panicked when Diego was not in his usual location back in the forest and so was relieved to have tracked him here, she had feared that he had left for more of his strange adventures. She looked around for any danger especially as Diego had described to her in the past of how he kept company with Mammoths of all things. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found him alone with that cub and the only scent of mammoth in the area was two days old. So he had made that part up, as well as the rest most probably. She walked confidently forwards now "Hey Diego, remember that favour you owed me?"

Diego jumped at the sound of her so close but wasn't surprised that she had managed to sneak up on him, after all that t-rex had almost trodden on him that time without him hearing it coming.

"Hi Sara haven't you had enough food off of me to repay that dept and more?" He snapped a little to begrudenly for someone who maintained that catching prey was so easy he wasn't bothered by how much she stole from him.

"You mean the food you took off of my packs territory? No, I need you to babysit for a few days while we are out of town"

"No way, like I keep saying I really don't like kids."

"Ha, you really don't have a choice you owe me big time remember?"

"Yeah but." Oh hell he did owe her, and she only had two or was it three kids he could just give them to Sid to play, with job done, easy. "So where are you guy's going anyway?"

"Don't ask and you won't be disappointed." She said quite smuggly.

Well now he was intrigued, but how was he going to get her to spill?

"Ok you beat it out of me but don't say I didn't warn you! We are going to Mount Pleasant, heard of it? It's the fifth peek from the south end of this valley, and it's where at this time of year cat nip just happens to grow in abundance, an absolute Mecca for all herbs it's why grazers get called herbivores they taste so seasoned up there."

"Wait!" Quick think "Take me with you!"

"Oh no you get to baby sit, this is the way it is breaks my heart but you go on enough adventures by the sounds of it and us working mum's need a little 'me' time away from the kids, so no!"

"Leave them with their dad, you won't even notice I'm there, I'll even start catching extra food when we get back, come on!" It was his best shot, surly she just had to crack.

"Ah, that was the plan but Jess being Jess blabbed and now old Dave's coming too, otherwise we were going to get you to cover for us, you know pretend to be me and leave them food every day, so no". Sara roared softly to the kids who came bounding out of the night and into sight. Sara's tan three with paler spots from when he had seen them before followed, by three more with less spots, followed by two tawny and two more brown ones.

"Any more?" Diego all but squeaked.

"Um no that's it I think, my three, Tammy's three and Jess's four, yep ten this year, a good year!"

"No wonder you need the food."

"Tell me about it, I just noticed five girls and five boys cute huh? They will bring our pack numbers up to a healthy number."

"Bring your numbers up to noticeable size, man will hunt you! You have to be careful with numbers."

"Nonsense no one hunts the hunters we fear nothing especially not weak humans. Now see you guy's in a few day's time be good for uncle D, oh and after your little stunt earlier with the mammoths they never got fed so if you don't mind. Chou!"

Ten cubs turned to face him he was not as big and scary looking as their dad who resembled Soto so they as a pack edged forward towards him. Diego edged back as did Snowball from the sea of spotty fur advancing.

"Sit, Sleep now!" Diego commanded them. They hesitated, then obeyed. Diego sighed with relief.

He curled up with his back to them, things would look better in the morning, Sid would be back and it was only for a few days, at least it couldn't get much worse. It was not long before he felt little paws on his back scrabbling to climb him, his worst nightmare drowning in kids! They were all on top of him before he could move and he found himself pinned down by the sheer weight of them. Now that they were off of the cold ground they shuffled to get comfortable, little claws and elbows dug into every part of Diego. He tried rolling to knock them off but the cubs stuck to him they were very used to this game. Finally they settled, Diego was lying now on his side to accommodate as many cold paws and noses as possible in his warm fur, at least they were still and the torture of their squirming had now stopped. He would have sighed with relief but the fear of waking even the one sleeping across his face and starting a chain reaction of shuffling was too great, instead he listened to their peaceful sleep breathing as ten dreams began to take place.

Snowball was not asleep, he was not happy about this his first night away from the warmth of Sid and now these new cubs enjoying the warmth of Diego as a bed while he was cold and feeling strangely inferior. Self piety did not sit well with Snowball; he was too strong willed for that kind of nonsense so he set about correcting the situation. He marched over with a grim determination and began to climb up to his rightful position on top of everyone else. He was bigger, fatter from today's food and defiantly better than all these cubs put together and made it known as he defiantly made sure he trod on each offending cute nose and paw on his way up before turning several circles to underline his point and finally curling up to sleep despite the wriggling of several disgruntled cubs trapped beneath him.

Diego vowed to kill him in the morning.

* * *

Wow what a big chapter! thanks for reading all who make it this far!


	6. Diavolo

Don't own ect... my word count is high enough so I'll leave it at that.

* * *

Diego woke to the sound of a particularly rumbly tummy located right above his ear. This was not a night mare, there really was a cub sleeping on his head. He was about to grumble about how he hated kids but remembered his herd was not here to hear him. With no one to impress Diego decided he would just lay here and feel sorry for himself, everyone had their own thing going on and he was not welcome to join his herd or the sabers.

He tried hard to focus on this rejection but found it imposable to generate the right amount of self pity as this cub blanket was just too damn warm and comforting. So instead he decided to think over recent events, maybe he could figure out what had been bothering him so much lately. This didn't take long it, was Snowball. Having him around was bringing out his old self, the person he thought he had left to die back at half peak. The deadly, severe, humourless tiger, for whom living only meant surviving. Diego wanted to survive to live, like Sid. Meeting the herd had opened his eyes to all life's possibilities, a real breath of fresh air compared to pack life. Fun and adventure had been the focus of this herd, now he was bogged down with responsibility and wasn't really enjoying it. Especially being bogged down all on his own with all this responsibility, no matter how cosy warm it was. Really wasn't enjoying it, much.

All too soon a gradual consciousness began to gather above as the cubs came back to the here and now with thoughts of food.

Diego pulled himself out from under them, his limbs were dead and the chill morning air intense, he shook himself awake and stretched. Eleven cubs copied, then followed Snowballs lead and stood staring at him, licking their lips suggestively.

Diego stared back, he needed help. Worse, he needed Sid, he never thought he would see the day when he would even entertain the thought, but right now a friend who liked damn kids and could sit still and be a pin cushion would be dead handy. Even if Sid could read his mind (unlikely) got up this early (very unlikely) and began waddling back right away (would never happen it was still before midday) that alone would take him the most part of the day. The cubs needed to be fed now. But he could not leave them here while he hunted as someone might come along and do away with the next generation of predators with one easy stamp. But if he took them with him they might get caught and trampled in the commotion of stampeding feet. Well at least with option two he would know for sure that they were squashed, with option one he would have to return with food only to find that they had been squashed. He then pondered another predator coming by, without any bodies he would not know what had happened, that would mean a lot of time wasted looking for them, so option two it was.

"So who's hungry?" Diego asked the cubs, dismissing the thought of their many possible demises.

"Me" The cubs responded eagerly, Snowball included despite the fact that he was still wearing yesterdays meal. Diego made a note to teach them to clean themselves; he was not lowering to that level, that really was a job for Sid. On the upside however scabby brown fur blended into the grass better than white ever did.

"Let's go get breakfast then." Diego said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, He led the way looking for clues as to what there was to eat nearby. "So, what do we fancy?" He asked to keep their minds off of any danger which lay ahead.

"I like Chicken" Came the obvious response from the following mini pack.

"Beef" Said Snowball, reveling in the fact that he had eaten something bigger than these cubs ever had, despite not having caught a thing himself.

"Horse" The largest tawny sabre cub responded, so as not to be completely out done by this wanna be tiger. His brother backed him up with "Antelope!"

"They are just tiny snacks compared to what I'm used to eating" Snowball returned, his fur bristling at the possible challenge imposed by this little upstart.

"Well I like Fawn" Said another cub with what seemed a very valid opinion "Far more succulent and tender"

"Baby ducks taste good, a more delicate taste all round" A tan female concluded.

"I want to try rhino"

Diego looked around to see where that answer had come from; of course it would have to be the smallest cub. "Ten points for ambition, but not today" Well it wasn't going to be hard imagining how that one was going to meet his end. Diego turned back and saw some movement up ahead "Who likes bacon?" He asked with a shameless grin, this was his favourite, since mammoth was now off the menu.

"Me!" Came eleven enthusiastic replies.

There was a group of wild boars up a head. Diego looked for somewhere safe to leave the cubs but there was nothing but flat open ground all round. He would just have to hope nothing went wrong and trust them to be able to run if something should. He crouched down ready to begin the hunt.

Snowball who had seen this all before began to explain to the others what was going on, being far larger he naturally took on a beta role. "We always go for the most evil looking one, as that will be the best challenge of strength".

"Any will do today" Diego quickly corrected, aware that he was teaching some bad habits, and ashamed that he was about to teach some irresponsibility as well, but hell these weren't his kids so why did he care. "O kaylisten up, I can't hide or protectyou all, so you're going to have to stay close" He checked the prey up a head before continuing in a whisper." I need you to stay as still as you can, only move when I move and as I move, unless there's trouble, then you scatter" The boars looked around Diego stopped talking and lay still for a while before continuing instruction." Try not to spook the prey we need to concentrate and become one". This could work he tried to convince himself as the cubs each furrowed their brows in concentration and nodded in appropriate places, all except Snowball that is. "Snowball are you listening?" Snowballs gaze was fixed on the targets, without his realising it his body was already inching clumsily forward for a better view.

"Yes" Snowball answered with a casualness that could only imply that this was clearly not the case.

"Then I won't be hearing you lift you paws more than an inch off of the ground or your jaunty skip coming up behind me because then it's game over, there is absolutely no room for error here got it?" Diego whispered hoarsely to quietly convey the shortness of his temper.

"Yes, got it" Still Snowball watched the prey, His bottom wiggled as if screwing tight a spring in his hind legs ready for an almighty pounce. With one heavy paw Diego held Snowball's bottom down until he could feel all the cubs enthusiasm die away from his eager limbs and his young questioning eyes turned up to his own "Why'd you do that? Are we not going to eat?"

"Never mind the prey over there you just watch and copy me and prepare to be so bored that your limbs ache, that is what is called stalking and that is what we, including you are going to be doing" Diego corrected.

"But, the fun? The, the chase?" Snowball began bewildered.

"It's not a game, no fun, just work." Diego could tell he was destroying the kid's soul purpose for existing "After this is done I will find you some butterflies to prance after IF you behave. Now only watch and do as I do, got it?"

"Got it" Snowball furrowed his brow with stroppy impatience and stared at Diego's paws as if he could kill them if only he was a little bigger.

With snowball's concentration firmly fixed, Diego decided it was now or never and trusted the kid to try. "Let's do this then" He carried his body as low to the ground as possible, and pain stacking slowly, so as not to make any sound, he crept forwards.

Snowball turned to the smaller cubs "You all copy him, don't any of you even look at the prey, you just watch and copy him. If I hear one of you kids step out of line then you will get it later, got it? Now let's do this" And with that little speech Snowball crept reasonably successfully forwards, a line of cubs followed behind him.

Diego could hear the rustle of them creeping along, more importantly he could hear their strained breathing as they struggled to hold their poses every time he paused. Like with yoga this took its toll on your limbs, but the boars kept looking around.

One cub fell with an "oomph!" his balance giving way under a long hard pose, but with them now slightly behind, it was as good a time as any to go for the chase. Diego broke out with long freeing strides, pulling the ground beneath him with his claws to gain as much speed as quickly as he could. With a great sigh of relief the cubs released their bodies and bounced forwards, they were just ecstatic that they were allowed to move again and ran gaily, as cubs do after Diego.

The boars scattered. Diego focused on the one that had reacted last, zigzagging as it did in an effort to lose him, Diego still gained on it. Now he was close enough to taste its scent, it smelt (to him) like hot bacon, a smell so good that it could break the most devout vegetarian. It was just inches away, within striking distance, when Sid's voice suddenly screamed from inside Diego's head "But it's only a baby!" Diego's pace involuntarily slowed allowing the young boar to escape into a thorny thicket. Diego cursed himself for going soft, Sid was not here, he's opinion on who deserved to get eaten really did not matter this time.

As he slowed his pace he shook his head in irritation at his own failure. At least however the cubs had had a chance to try prowling, and been alright at it. Plus no one got trampled. All in all it was not so bad, he would just have to try again. With his anger quelled Diego looked up just in time to see the boars father rearing up seemingly from nowhere (they live in burrows) and charge at him straight on. Of course he had been talking to Snowball not watching the damn prey! He had not been concentrating and now he barely turned in time to miss the oncoming rage of the boar as it caught his side with its tusks and a pain like white hot lightening struck him throwing him ungracefully to one side. The boar came to a stop with a triumphant snort and turned to face his enemy for another blow pawing the ground with powerful sweeps of his trotter; his family looked on and broke out in a cheer as their foe fell crashing to the ground.

Snowball heard the cheer and stopped running, ten cubs came bumping to a halt behind him. "What's happening?" Came the question; they assumed Snowball knew what to do, after all he had done this before.

"I don't know" He answered honestly. He felt horribly uncertain, why would someone else cheer over his meal?

"Do we find Diego?" Asked one, "Or scatter?" Said another. "Or just stay here? He will find us right?" Too many options, Snowball was confused, there was more to leading than just being the biggest.

Diego pulled himself up, the tusk had glanced off of his ribs missing anything vital but it hurt, so did the scrapes and bruises of his bumpy landing. He hissed and spat blue murder like a true villain as he pulled his aching body up to look at who had jumped out and hit him. The boar stood a short distance away pawing the ground. Diego began to circle assessing the size and strength of his foe while easing sore muscles to a useable state and calming his temper so to think straight. The audience of onlookers lost their nerve and left the scene, the saber was not hit as hard as they would have liked.

Fearless, the boar charged again, Diego dodged clumsily and the boar turned and ran again, this time without pause. Again Diego dodged, the lethal tusks just missing him, this was good, this was an even fight, Diego liked the challenge.

The boar swung around yet again, he wasn't giving up.

Diego timed his dodge to this now predictable charge and struck out this time tripping his leg out from under him. As the boar fell stunned for an instant Diego attacked getting to the exposed throat as his victim rolled just seconds before sharp defending trotters connected with his brow. A moment sooner and those sharp trotters would have fended him off, but as it was he felt the boars fight slip away from between his teeth. The throb of pain all over was all that he could hear and sense, he started to pull his prize to a more concealed spot where he could gather himself and assess his wounds.

Snowball finally decided what to do "We should take a look, see what is happening then hide, maybe." He bravely stood up peering over the grassy cover which was doing nothing to camouflage his dirty white coat and saw with relief Diego trip and take breakfast. There was nothing to fear, they were going to eat again. He forgot why he ever doubted this outcome. "Let's go!" He ambled off toward Diego and food triumphantly.

Diego left the cub's too it, he was still good from yesterdays meal. He was amazed that Snowball managed to put away just as much again and the sabers were like they had never seen food before. While they ate he brooded over his mistakes and licked his well deserved wounds. The scratches were not so bad, just stupid like his mistake of not studying the prey for long enough before jumping in. It wasn't long before Snowball was sitting back beside him, not long enough anyway; they had all picked their meal clean and now sat dirty awaiting instructions.

"So wash up then" Diego said. All he received was a lot of blank looks. "Well you better learn fast because I am not your mum, I have my limits" At least that should teach them not to climb inside their food in future; he sat down and waited, guarding against any danger.

After ten minutes the cubs were again looking expectantly at him, each cub now sported clean paws, shoulders, noses and bibs, the rest of their bodies however remained untouched. Diego rolled his eyes irritated that he even had to say it "Now help each other to get the bits you can't reach clean." Ages later they were still filthy. "That will have to do" This was so trying! Maybe someone from the herd would be back at the meet spot Diego thought, maybe someone crazy enough to look after them for a bit. It was the best plan he could think of. "OK kids, we head back via the river, you will practice prowling all the way, only then can you relax."

"But" Snowball began remembering the playtime he was promised earlier.

"I wasn't black and blue then now I'm just plain crabby, live with it" Diego snapped, honestly the 'wants' never stopped. The cubs followed, prowling silently.

Snowball practiced hard at his prowl sticking his tongue out for extra concentration, he felt he had it nailed. Maybe even improved on it! By lifting his feet higher and adding a little bounce between steps, he was able to clear a lot more distance while still keeping the noise down. He decided to take it to the next level; he crept up closer behind Diego and executed his new trick 'the trip' as observed on the boar earlier. Diego went down like a sack of potatoes aggravating swelling bruises. He looked around at the triumphant Snowball who had been stood waiting for his praise, but now flinched at the miss timing of this his most fantastic feat.

"Practice on each other not on the only provider in the pack" Diego snapped as if it should be obvious that the provider's preservation was paramount. "I get spared, from all games!"

"Got it, but it was good wasn't it?" Snowball asked proud but uncertain.

"It was alright" Diego replied reluctantly, well it couldn't hurt to encourage him sometimes.

"So can I help next time?"

Apparently it could."No" Diego said as bluntly as possible, if only he could be giving Snowball to Sara with the rest of them in a few days time, Ah to be a bachelor again!

* * *

Meanwhile over at the mammoth herd Ellie, with the help of her brothers had skilfully broken free from the 'mothers club' and was enjoying teaching the teenage vagrants the fine art of skiing. This was something Sid excelled at; however he was busy today holding Manny's hand for support. Manny had not escaped the 'men's meeting' to discuss strategies to neutralise the sabre threat to all that grazed. Many options had been put forward but only one was really being considered.

"We must think like the enemy!" Said a very thoughtful, small mammoth.

"How so?" Manny asked dryly, this didn't sound good, nor did it sound like a solution.

Undeterred by Manny's tone the smaller mammoth continued, "Well they ambush prey as they find chasing too hard, so they sneak and ambush. So we could lure them somewhere with no escape, and ambush them, and trample them."

"Fire with fire! I like that" Big Mick mused. "We could even make a day of it! Could make an ideal sporting event for the calendar. Call it 'The big cat clean out' maybe".

"That's ridicules" Manny put in quickly, it could work! How was he going to keep his saber out of it? Not only now but every time they happened on a crazy herd of mammoths?

"Hush Manfred" Mick snapped," no one shares your opinions so take heed of ours, the right opinions."

Manny scowled at being chastised, it might have been his imagination but he thought he heard a muffled snicker from somewhere around his ankles. Regardless of this he was going to speak up again. "How would you even lure all the pack into a trap?"

A few mammoths went to say something but hesitated as the element of danger to anyone playing dead around a pack of predators in a dead end trap made this indeed a silly idea. Many wished now that this idea had not been mentioned as if Mick came up with what everyone else was thinking he would certainly volunteer one of them for the horrible task.

"We could use uhh a umm..." Mick pondered hard. As the cogs slowly turned a few of the smaller mammoths who often got 'volunteered' for nasty tasks shuffled back slowly so to disappear unnoticed behind larger members of the herd, including, Manny noted, the mammoth who had had this particular brainwave. "A gazelle! Or something like that!" Mick finally finished. A sigh of relief was released from all around him.

"And where are you going to find a gazelle stupid enough to pose for this trap?" Manny's voice went from confident to squeak as a herd of frowns and tusks turned to regard him and his constant questions. He could read on their faces that they didn't care where this gazelle was coming from so long as it wasn't a mammoth. Again a muffled snicker sounded from somewhere below.

Mick, keeping his calm and oblivious to the glares directed at Manny tried to explain as if to a small calf. "I'm not saying it will be easy, but it is for the greater good that we at least try to do this, do you understand?"

Manny could not believe that he was still going to protest, so for the sake of self preservation edged back away from the pointy tusks facing him as he spoke "Another pack of something else will turn up you know, so long as we are all part of the food chain we are going to be prey to some predator or another." A comforting clawed pat to his leg told him he was not alone facing this herd, he stood his ground albeit weakly, then that snicker sounded again.

"Your speaking now like we're already dead" Big Mick sighed. "I don't like your defeatist attitude. Anyone who is not in favour of at least exploring this idea, or anyone interested in just feeding themselves without a fight to the tigers please go stand with the ladies group over there"

Now it wasn't just Manny's imagination as all the bulls snickered. He gritted his teeth, he was going to make them see the stupidity of all this "Oh come on a willing sacrifice who would tempt all the pack, without getting caught, into a trap, possibly fain death in order to get them all together, and then hope beyond hope that when you guys come stampeding out from whatever your hiding behind, and seriously what can a herd of mammoths really hide behind? Anyway and skip away scott free without a scratch! No mammal in their right mind would entertain the thought"

"Ideally yes!" Wow! Mick had to admit Mammy did paint a good picture of a good day's fun there, shame he had to be so crazy "But realistically, the cute little critter might not make it, we are prepared to lose the bait if need be" Mick finished solemnly. That did mar the whole thing slightly.

Manny felt Sid pulling his fur for attention"Turn the tables! You got a pack vs. a herd in one place!" Sid whispered making Manny think hard about a new approach to this argument.

"Let's say that all happens, won't the sabres just attack us back? Would everyone here stand their ground if a pack of sabres targeted them as the weakest link in the trap" Manny saw the expressions change on the herd, although they were not the bait it was still dangerous.

"Manfred you are very negative, we have here an excellent suggestion, with a bit of planning it is the best idea so far." Mick bellowed, more than half the assembled herd nodded agreement.

Manny desperately added "But aren't we all migrating on in a week or two anyway? I mean why even bother?"

"Yes, but we will be back next year, and then they will be waiting wont they! Never put off for tomorrow what can be done today" Big Mick finished with a snort of laughter from Sid. He was beginning to like that sloth, it added emphasis to his speeches with its appropriately placed chuckles, maybe he could get a sidekick?

Manny could not take it anymore he looked down around his ankles to where Sid sat giggling to himself. "What exactly is so funny?" He growled down to the sloth "This might end up involving certain uh ...badger that we both know getting squashed!" Manny hoped Sid remembered the reference he was making.

"It's just..." Sid realised he was likely to get pummelled when Manny was in a temper. "Oh nothing"

"Then shut up!"

"But I didn't say a word" Sid protested.

"You know what I mean!" Manny finished, any more from him he might find himself being volunteered for bait duty.

Sid saw the murderous look in Manny's eye "Boy you mammoths are a morose bunch"

"IF you have ANY helpful suggestions don't be afraid to speak up as we are ALL in danger of being eaten here!" Manny was so beyond irritated now.

"I will, when there's a problem." Sid retorted sticking his lack of chin out as stubbornly as a chinless sloth could.

"What? The Sabres are the problem, there is a pack of them out in the valley taking anything in their path large or small, which means I can't protect you this time, which means we need a plan if we are too beat..." Manny stopped suddenly the memory of half peak flashed into his mind. Of holding Diego between his tusk and a hard rock wall ready to stop the threat to his and his friend's lives. He remembered how even then he had hesitated, hesitated long enough for Diego to talk his way out, luckily.

"Pessimistim is the problem here Manny, plain old miserable mammoths" Sid was saying unaware of Manny's memory lane moment.

"Got something to add Manny?" Asked Mick who was now aware of and distracted by the off shoot conversation happening.

"Nothing just explaining to Sid here..."

"Your little friend there, ah he doesn't understand huh? Why don't you pop him in the nursery with the kids his size, we got things to discuss here and I need everyone's concentration if I'm to get to a conclusion! I can't do this on my own; we are a herd Manny everyone needs to put in"

"Right, come on Sid" Manny scooped Sid up and left the bulls with a sigh of both relief and frustration in one weighted breath. "Go play with the kids Sid you don't know what you're talking about this is about mammoths you you're a sloth, you wouldn't understand" After all what had Sid ever needed to protect? He just needed protecting, mostly from himself but still protecting all the same.

"Fine by me kids talk far more sense"

"True, but something does need to be done."

"Yes the bullies need to be stopped!" Said Sid.

"Oh their just doing what comes natural in a way, it's not really bulling as such" Manny presumed Sid had meant the sabers.

Sid however had meant the mammoths "It's NATURAL for you guys to be mean, pushy, stubborn, moody, overly aggressive, overly hairy, and possibly overly poofy, control freaks?" He paused for breath "Wow I've been fighting a lost cause trying to mellow you out all this time"

"What? Are you trying to say that I bully?"

"If I say yes will you pummel or (Gulp) _**Sit **_on me?"

Manny was taken aback, he only ever nudged Sid in the right direction every so often in a fatherly kind of way, blimey that sloth exaggerated. Just then he spotted Ellie, he decided to ask her opinion on the matter. When he noticed however what she was up to both he and Sid stopped in their tracks.

She seemed to have both invented and perfected to Olympic standard a cross ski track. She was using two saplings lashed together as a sling shot to propel herself forward at a greater speed than could be otherwise achieved on already near vertical slope. Manny's eyes followed Ellie's intended downward path, tracks from previous runs suggested the aim was to get as much air as possible before hitting a tight slalom course into the tree line and out of sight before reappearing off in the distance still dodging rocks and obstacles. Manny looked at Ellie who teetered in case he needed her attention before committing to her launch.

"Ellie do I aah..."what was a good word for it? Oppress? No too dramatic, intimidate, coerce! All too strong! He just kind of persuaded his herd with his fantastic diplomatic skills, didn't he?

"Yes you can be a bit daunting and sometimes I think your mean, but it's just the way you are. Anything else?" She said a little too easily and defiantly more cheerfully than Manny would have otherwise liked. Manny put that to one side to dwell on later as the slope had again distracted him.

"So having fun love?" Manny observed Ellie's crowd, although they were not the biggest mammoths in the herd by far, they were certainly the most intimidating to look at. Dark staring eyes and hair perfected in to punk spikes all over their bodies, all they lacked was some heavy silver jewellery stuck anywhere that could be pierced, hair dye and maybe some tight black leather if that wasn't pushing it all too far. Crash and Eddie looked the part with their stripes and cool dude poses, they had mini skis and waited their turn with the other competitors.

"Great time thanks, you?"

"Oh yeah, real wease, I'm um..." He needed his space all of a sudden, he needed out of this crowd! "Going to check on Diego, tell him whats going on, want to come?" He felt like the nerdiest kid asking the top bad girl out, he looked at his feet mentally preparing for rejection"

"Uh gee, I'm kind of in the middle of a tournament here, next time, alright?"

"Yeah sure." Well at least she had let him down gently. Manny walked away to the sound of the twang of young trees catapulting his beloved off of a slope he was sure was too steep but said nothing, she knew what she was doing, she always did. It was he who was at a loss right now and needed space to think. Sid followed at his heel.

Together they passed through the herd, until Sid spotted Peaches in a group of similar young mammoths playing. Well it had been a while since Sid had spent time with Peaches, and never had he spent time with a whole creche of baby mammoths! This was a once in a life time opportunity he could just feel it. He patted Manny reassuredly on the leg before waddling off towards the kids. Manny felt the reassuring pat and felt touched at the sloths Company during this time of confusion. "Thanks Sid I appreciate you sticking by..." Manny looked around in time to see Sid waddling off.

"Sid!"

"What?" Sid looked around dumb folded at the mammoth for calling him back.

Manny suppressed the urge to whack the sloth, after all this was Sid why had he expected him to stick by him during this moody moment, that was what Diego did, back in the day, when he had moody moments now and then. "You're not coming?" Manny's tone was one of a cool kid ordering a follower along.

"No." Sid was secretly hurting that hunting was taking over from play in his own little family. "Diego's fine, independent and stuff, say 'hi' for me though!" He turned abruptly on his heel and headed off.

"Touchy, Just me then huh?" Manny said to himself. Well at least this strange situation between Sid and Diego had taken his mind off of his own problems. He would have to find out what was going on between them.

* * *

Peaches was ecstatic to have her uncle Sid come play with her. The other kids were beginning to freak her out. She was used to everyone being so different in her herd; she just couldn't get her head around all these identical kids. And they all did the same thing! She was a big hit in the group from the start yesterday with her new and quirky ways, and she did enjoy that_**. **_Today however the kids expected her to amuse them again with her strange new antics, which they copied! Maybe not right away, well some did then soon all of them would imitate her every move, every trick! Sure it was fun at first, but now it was just plain freaky, as they followed her around copying all her best moves and skills. And they had nothing new to share! Well now they could copy Sid! Like she did! Ah! No! Like she _sometimes _did! Because sometimes she would copy mum, or her uncle's that was different, that was OK! She looked expectantly at Sid, as did the other kids wanting to know what Peaches was waiting for.

Sid saw the small herd of impressionable baby mammoths all turn to greet him at once.

Peaches waved her trunk at him, as did the others in unison, Sid felt finally he belonged, and embraced them all.

* * *

Manny walked slowly down hill back to the meet spot. It was a quiet thoughtful walk. After a few hours the ground finally levelled out, boulders were randomly scattered all around, the largest of these was whale shaped and marked clearly the meet spot. Manny had come to no obvious conclusion as to what to do, he never was any good at politics. With less light falling down to this sheltered corner of the valley floor everything seemed very dark and gloomy very quickly. The ground was wet from snow melt and cold frosty air hung thick around the boulders.

_This would be a good place for something evil to jump out on a guy! _Thought Manny as the cold sent shivers down his spine. He listened hard for movement and set his sights on the upturned tail of the whale rock which caught the last ray of warm sun drifting down and beckoned him on. The ground rose slightly up to meet the huge rock allowing a vantage point over those who approached it, Manny had expected to see Diego watching for him there, he hadn't expected to see four tawny cubs sitting in plain view watching his approach. He froze instinctively as did they, both watched each other.

The cubs had been told to stay put and not to move even a hair on pain of death while Diego retrieved the other cubs including Snowball, who had become lost playing 'chase and pounce' among the smaller boulders. But if that mammoth came any closer they would surely be allowed to scatter.

Manny was listening for the parents of the cubs to come sneaking out from where ever they were concealed. Maybe if he just backed up the cubs would forget they saw him and he could just creep off.

Too late! His hair stood on end, there was a movement to his right and it was close! Manny lowered his tusks to ground level ready to swing in a defensive ark should the enemy jump out at him. He let out a low guttural growl, he was ready for attack.

The cubs considered backing away and hiding now the mammoth had released them from his gaze, but froze in fear at the deep growl .They cowered defensively' but before they could get too frightened they spotted Diego directly behind the mammoth!

"Hey Manny" Diego said casually as he herded the rest of the cubs at a subdued pace back to the shelter of the whales nose.

Manny jumped rather than attacked and had to take a minute to calm his heart down. He hadn't expected to be approached from behind, he hadn't heard a thing! Well it was his own fault worrying about nasty predators too much, made himself paranoid.

The cubs looked from Diego to Manny in confusion "Why is it still breathing?" asked one. (They will get names when I get a decent name book)

"Can we still eat it?" Enquired another.

Diego had to look; of course it was that little one with the suicidal taste for rhino! "No eating that one"

"Why?" They coursed together.

"Just do as told, no questions" Diego couldn't really explain it so didn't waste time trying; instead he rounded on Manny with his own question "Where the hell is Sid?"

Manny felt that it was a good thing Sid was safe elsewhere "He's still with the mammoths, I left him with the kids actually, where he belongs no doubt" Manny joked while taking in his friends unusually poor looking composure.

"Having a nice time I hope" Diego's tone implied the exact opposite to be true.

"Is everything alright with you guys?"

"Course, aside from the fact that he has left me high and dry here"

"You didn't have so many then though, where did these all come from? There not yours are they?" Manny could not help the suspicious tone that crept into his voice.

"I'm a bit more responsible than that!" Diego sniped back, then aware of how catty he was sounding he added "They don't even look like me" Diego sat down, he looked as far from his usual poised dignified self as Manny could imagine.

"You're not coping too well" Manny observed. He also observed that a manly punch on the shoulder was not going to help things this time.

Diego just glared, he wanted a break, a nap, a good wash and the hope that tomorrow would be child free. He wanted Sid and got Manny with his bad jokes to add to his list of unneeded problems.

Without Ellie telling him to shut up Manny decided to try improve the situation "So you've got your own pack now huh? Just don't turn against them this time, there only little, you might make them cry!" Manny laughed.

"So long as you don't find yourself being eaten by them, actually no, even if you do I think I'll stick by them this time at least till you beg for mercy, there tougher than they look you know" Diego gestured to his new scrapes in a joking manner but noticed the atmosphere between them tense considerably.

Manny Looked hard at the wounds, they looked like the kind of scrapes you'd get when wrestling big game "You weren't out hunting at all yesterday were you?"

"Me? No. You know I only", he struggled for something acceptable "scavenge, and eat fish" no one likes fish so that was ok.

Snowball decided to correct Diego, the kill he made yesterday was way worth boasting about "No you got that really big nasty looking..." He was cut short by a heavy paw coming down on his head.

"Fish! That really big fish and it was real good! Wasn't it?" Diego snarled at the cub.

"Yes" Snowball managed to squeeze out.

The other cubs looked around from there cute play. There leader and beta seemed to be having a disagreement in front of lunch.

Manny took in their ever hungry stares and tried hard to ignore them "Only there is this pack led by a saber called 'old Dave' out in the valley and he's been causing a bit of trouble lately.."

"Really? Never heard of him."

"That's my dad" (Kid's like to help)

"You're not hanging out with a bad gang are you?"

"No, I'm just looking after his kids because a girl in his pack needed some help; I don't have anything to do with them otherwise, bad bunch, except her"

"Oh, well that's very noble of you. So why do you guys (predators) have so many anyway?" Manny could not help it Mick's words had hit home earlier, thrown his usual live and let live attitude.

Diego turned to address the cubs for a moment "Cover your ears guy's bad grown up words taking place here" The cubs obediently compiled and placed their paws tightly over their ears,"Only a few at most will be still here next year, less the year after and less after that to breed, survival of the fittest and all that" Diego concluded quickly. It was sad to think when you go through all that you end up betraying and deserting your pack.

"That's quite sad" Manny reflected, maybe a prey species lot wasn't so bad after all.

"Just the way it is, can't all live there just isn't enough fish in the sea" Diego said dismissively.

"River don't you mean" Manny hated to be so punctual but they had never been to the sea side. Manny also began to wonder if Diego had actually ever tasted fish, his fear of water until recently suggested not. Diego just went off and came back, what he ate never really came up in conversation.

"They live there too? No more long hunting trips for me then, I shall have to tell their mum when she returns" Diego and Manny stared hard at each other. It was very clear that white lies weren't washing anymore. This could become a stalemate.

Manny had had enough of 'tense' today however and dismissively played along, after all this was Diego so the cubs and maybe their mum were probably alright, kind of, for predators. "Good you tell her, I bet she'll be much relieved" Manny lay down to emphasize that he was comfortable regardless. OK so Diego had predator friends, so they were the same pack causing trouble, they weren't going to fight and that was that. He came here to relax with his friend.

Diego followed suit.

They lay quietly for a while. Diego expected Manny to go as there was nothing here for him, then cottoned on that maybe his friend was in fact reluctant to return. Well he needed rid of Manny as the cubs needed to settle soon and he was embarrassed by the sleeping habits he was getting very used to, king of 'touch me and you are dead' that he was. A nudge was definitely needed here "Shouldn't you head back? Your family remember?"

"Na it's peaceful here" Manny had to admit he would rather be surrounded by sabers than arguing with mammoths any more today.

Right, Manny wasn't going to get comfortable here, Diego decided to make him talk about it "Are you not enjoying it, tough not being the biggest with the baldest weapons in the herd huh?"

"Have you been talking to Sid?" Manny snapped suspiciously.

' _Ooo defensive, touched on something there' _Diego thought, but felt irritated by the mention of the ever absent Sid "No, lucky guess it seems"

Manny noted the suppressed curl of anger to Diego's lip at the mention of the sloth. He was about to ask what was going on when a cub spoke before he asked.

"Can we take our paws off of our ears yet?"

"Oh yeah sure." Diego turned back to Manny "Well if you are staying they are playing, I need help wearing them out"

'_Well how hard can it be? Playing with kittens fools game surly!'_ "Yeah why not!"

"Bouncy castle is open kids" Diego announced so even the cubs who were still covering their ears could hear "last one to get shattered is tomorrow's dinner!" He relaxed finally, for the first time that day and watched the crazy cubs jump all over the helpless mammoth. That would wear them out, see Manny off and solve this stalemate situation which was rising at a most inopportune time. Somehow even his scrapes and bruises didn't seem to hurt so much. It had all worked out after all, who really needed Sid?

Manny held as still as he could as the cubs went wild. It kind of tickled but every now and then it really hurt as well. The worst part was however staying still because he thought it would be such bad etiquette to squash one by accident rolling around in pain from unexpected nips. Thank goodness peaches didn't have claws! Finally Manny could take no more and had to stand up and as carefully as possible shake them all off before batting off the more persistent ones.

"Did we nearly kill it?" Asked one cub breathlessly to Diego.

"Yeah very nearly"

"Should we try again?"

"No that's enough we will let that one go"

"Oh" they sat down reluctantly, still not tired. "Can we get a story before bed?"

"No"

Manny had been contemplating leaving changed his mind at this; he liked stories so settled back down. "You don't make a very good parent if you don't tell stories. I can tell them one if you like, give you the idea of how it's done"

They turned to sit facing Manny expectantly.

"Once upon a time there was a young burrow" He began.

"Oh please no, not that stupid ass story again. Once is enough! OK I will tell a story but no interruptions I tell it you go, and you guys go to sleep" Diego paused while Manny and the cubs nodded in agreement before beginning. "One day there was this cub who never did as it was told..."

"That's not a story, you're still angry at us from earlier!"

"Mum always says 'Do something properly or not at all'" A very bright cub put in.

"Funny I'd say the same to her" Diego grumbled, "OK how about the tigress who always stole other sabers food..."

"She didn't get big hips did she?" Snowball just had to ask he was catching on to Sid's smart mouth.

"You've heard that one it would seem" Diego smiled, Sid might have said something like that if he was here. "Once upon a time" He began finally as these kids were not going to let him off with anything less than a proper story "there was this sabre family, Snowball you can replace sabre with lion as it's really not going to make much difference what they are. So there was this family

"Wait is a saber family like a mammoth family? You know mum, dad and well we wouldn't have ten kids"

"No in a Saber family you would have for example, dad the leader, as many mums as he can guard and all the kids of various ages making up the rest of the pack."

"How many mums are we talking about here?"

"Well four would be an average number." Having grown up in a commune like environment this was nothing short of natural for Diego.

"Four wives? Really? Don't they hate sharing?"

"No they don't mind, usually they are really close friends or sisters."

"That is so not right"

"You've just never tried it. Anyway so their was this family with just two wives, six grown up children and six new little cubs. Now one of these little cubs was inevitably smaller than the rest."

"But there is only ever one father? Couldn't one lady say have four guys?"

"OK some times there is two guys, I've even heard of three, but it doesn't matter because the males time leading, unless he's good, only lasts a few years then he gets toppled by a new man or men and the girls get a new husband. Now no more questions! Back to the story. It was a hard year for predators as the grass and stuff had grown exceptionally well making all prey species strong and healthy and this little cub, who was called Diavolo suffered for it, as did everyone in his pack."

"Is this a true story?" Manny couldn't help it, he liked details.

"Right cover ears again kids. Supposedly it is, Diavolo is like a really important historical figure to sabers, but it is probably more of a made up folklore kind of thing. Manny this story might be a bit grown up for you; maybe you should take a walk while I tell it. Or take a walk and give me a chance to tell it."

"Is it going to be too adult for them?"

"No, they can handle grown up issues, you however, I don't think you can"

"I'm staying, if they can, I can"

"Don't say I didn't warn you! OK uncover. Well they were all close to starving, it was only a matter of days before this little cub would, you know, head off, and thoughts turned to speeding up the process so to feed the others sooner rather than later. Well Diavolo was furious for although small his anger was equal to that of a full grown bear. He said to his hungry litter mates and to his pack that he was leaving to find his fortunes elsewhere and that he would return one day to wreak revenge on them all for treating him like prey! So despite being small and weak he stumbled off with as much dignity as he could"

"Just like that they let him go?" Wow this was nothing at all like a mammoth family!

"Yes, I just said they did! In the snow small and alone and full of hate he left to find his fortunes elsewhere"

"That is so sad"

"Manny you are worse than those possums, just zip it please. But they did give him a sporting head start to get away before they began to hunt him down. Well as chance would have it he found a nook in a rock wall that was so small only a half starved cub could possibly wriggle through, so he escaped before the larger cats could catch him. However his litter mates saw him and followed him through but struggled to move being bigger than he was, and so became stuck often. When they managed to emerge on the other side eventually one by one, head first from a tight gap, they did not expect little Diavolo to be waiting for them. Diavolo killed each of his litter mates one by one as they came out slicing open their uh.... quickly dispatching them so they didn't see or feel a thing till it was too late. Then he ate them and with a full stomach he headed off stronger than he had been in weeks to find his destiny.

Well soon he came across another pack who alas were also struggling to survive against the odds, but luckily whose young were as small and as malnourished as he had once been. So before they could realise that he was indeed an intruder, he slew what cubs he could eating them up completely before their parents could figure out what had happened. That made him stronger still and he threatened the remaining cubs to stay quiet. The parents fed him more before they realised cubs were missing, then he ran. But not before killing any cubs left behind so they could not avenge themselves and he ate them too.

Now he was all alone again. He ate worms and bugs which discussed him but kept him alive when many perished. Slowly he grew until he was big enough to kill baby rabbits in their burrows and fawns hiding in the field. He hid in their homes disguised under their skins and ate their parents when they returned to feed them. He was truly sneaky cunning and remorseless and he survived that terrible year when grasses grew bountifully and prey became too strong for any other cats to catch.

Well the year after was not so good for prey and predators at last could eat again. Diavolo returned home to his pack mostly to gloat but also to keep his promise. His pack were only just holding on to enjoy this time of bounty as grazers dropped left right and centre from lack of grass.

He laughed at them struggling to get to food before the vultures took it away and said "Aren't you the ones that called me little and weak?", and they said "It's you? You have returned! Teach us how you have managed to survive out on your own so long so we too might become strong once more. To which he replied "By the sheer strength of my determination I have survived against all odds!" and they realised how great his anger and determination was just before he ate them.

So great was his anger, so deep his bitterness, so cunning his plans, and ruthless his appetite that it spread to even his cubs, that is when he at last found a female strong enough not to be eaten by him to father some with. So it is said that all great alphas everywhere have somewhere within them his bitterness gene, his stubbornness streak his hatefulness, albeit very dilute in comparison. But in all cats his fiery fury can be seen in the raw through their fiery colouring hence tawny is and always shall be revered among felines everywhere. The end, now go sleep"

"I'm Tawny do you think I have some of that strength?" Asked the littlest cub in the group

"Yep somewhere, buried deep"

"But what about me!" Snowball looked desperately at his dirty white coat.

"All lions are bitter evil and twisted you'll get there I'm sure"

"That was a horrible story!" Manny decided out load.

"That is a hero tale of how even the smallest cub can muster enough cunning to win through, and I did say it was not for you."

"But what about the end? That was not a nice end"

"He was strong, revenged and fruitful, what more is there to say? It's not what I like either, it is the way it is. If I were to tell them my thinking that we should not be led by the strongest but by the wisest or by voting system **that** would give them nightmares."

"That sounds a fairer way to organise a pack and win the respect of your team mates"

"You think? So how do mammoths decide who leads?"

"I'll head back it's getting late!" There was no way Manny was admitting it was the biggest oldest bully there too.

"Tell Sid to come back, I need help with his kid, and the rest, but mostly HIS kid!"

"Sure I'll tell him. Look after yourself Diego!"

Diego waited till Manny was out of sight. "OK kids this is the reason we have a mammoth in this herd" He got up and lay down in the space Manny had just vacated, the ground was warmer than a warm sunbeam. He stretched out on his back to absorb as much heat as possible before settling comfortably so sleep. The cubs followed his lead and purred contentedly. Every pack should have a mammoth sized bed warmer.

* * *

Yes names are needed but i'm still cringing at my 'Lisa leopard' ocso will wait till I find some good ones rather than use the first thing that comes to mind. Also 'Big Mick' sounds a bit suspect and 'Old Bill" who appears briefly again soon is slang I now realise for well UN-PG stuff, so I had better think before I name any one else or else I will have to up my K rating for implied profanity!!


	7. I got your nose!

Chap 7!! at last! not bad for someone who can't concentrate on anything for more than ten minutes.

Sorry i could not wait any longer debit13 but I have a few p c probs of my own at the minute, it's move it or lose it with a lot of stuff including all pass words so I had to post.

And thanks pomishians for your plain English advise, I hope this is better, if not then I have no hope!

Oh yes and I still don't own it!

* * *

It was getting very late and Ellie was really regretting not going out with Manny earlier today. Why was he taking so long? Well it wasn't as if he was just going to say "Hi" to Diego and turn around to come back again, so she would give him another few hours before she did anything. Five minutes later she had rallied up her brothers and daughter and was oh so nearly ready to set out looking for Manny, if only she could get Sid to budge!

"No! I don't want to leave! The kids need me!!" Sid wailed.

"Sid Manny needs us!" Ellie said, then thought, _He had better need help,_ _because if he is having fun or worse an adventure without getting me first then he is in real trouble!_ "Oh come on Sid the kids will still be here when we get back"

"No. I will not sacrifice my happiness for that melancholy mammoth! I have searched too long!" Sid replied, stubbornly folding his arms, honestly that Manny was out to ruin his day on purpose he was sure.

"Can we not just leave him?" Crash asked.

"It's not as if we need him." Eddie added. The possums sat on either tusk reminding Ellie of the little voices of reason you sometimes got in the form of a devil and an angel. It was just her luck to get two little devils! And Sid to boot!

"I have feelings!!! Not that any of you guys have **ever** cared." Sid wailed.

"Too right we don't you, you smelly drama queen..."

"Crash! Not helping!" Ellie snapped, she was not going to let them get off topic, "Well if you change your mind Sid, because seeing as we risk a lot every time you need us then, well, you know where to find us" Ellie was in rather a devilish mood herself, she could do with a helpful little angel voice to give her some patience right now.

"I'll see you later guys later then" Sid called while waving them off more in a '_shooing_' manner rather than in a '_good bye'_ kind of way.

Reluctantly Ellie left. Reluctantly because she could really lay into that ungrateful little sloth! Not that she would ever admit it but she could see why Manny was so short with him.

"Wow sis you really going to leave him?" Eddie said, he was a little in awe that she was not going to concede to Sid's bad behaviour finally. It irritated him how there was always someone in the herd willing to put up with Sid's out bursts, yet no one was ever even remotely tolerant to his and Crash's bombs and pranks. Well finally that Sloth had got what was coming.

"Do we have to comeback for him ever?" Crash asked as if he could read his brothers mind, maybe he could?

Ellie bit her tongue; she had nothing nice to say and was well aware that Peaches didn't need to know about her thoughts on Sid right this minute. She looked down to her daughter marching purposefully beside her. Despite it being way past her bedtime, Peaches marched with more resolve than Ellie did, and why wouldn't she? This was not just an adventure it was the all important task of putting the herd back together. Ellie held out her trunk for Peaches to hold with her own, and both girls smiled to each other, they were on a mission. Gosh this herd needed more girls.

Sid turned back to his crèche, only to find them yawning and returning to their parents for bed. He was alone. "Uh hey guys!" He quickly waddled over to catch his herd up "Let's go save Manny **again **then, I can see it's important to you and let's face you're going to need help"

"Again?" Ellie said with a playful tone of disbelief, Peaches her secret angel of reason had restored her patience back to what it should be.

The possums pulled faces of incredulity, the sloth had gotten away with it again! What couldn't Sid do or say, or sing for that matter and _**not**_end up in everyones good books regardless?

Sid noticed the possums glares at him but carried on regardless "Oh yeah, I've had to save Manny many times, and not just from himself either. Why there was this one time when we were being attacked by a monstrous prehistoric fish..."

"Sid we had actually joined the herd by then!" Ellie cut in dryly, she wasn't so patient that she was going to entertain any blatant fibs.

"Oh" Said Sid.

By now they had ventured a few meters out from the mammoth herd. It was very dark and getting much colder. It looked like this was going to be a tough search when Eddie spotted a Manny type shape up a head. "Hey guys! I think I found him!" He shouted.

Sid squinted into the dark "No that's just a rock; Manny's way, way, waaay wider than that"

"I can hear you Sid!" Manny's familiar voice came from out of the darkness. Peaches rushed out a head to meet him, then after a quick hug she pulled him back to Ellie to reunite her family, mission accomplished!

However now Ellie could see Manny a bit better she gasped, "Oh my gosh! Manny what happened?"

"Nothing" Said Manny bewildered, "Why?" Ellie was looking at him quite panicked.

"You look like you've been chewed up; your fur's a state! Are you hurt?" Ellie exclaimed.

"No I'm fine, I've just been to see Diego that's all"

"And did he jump up and maul you? You're a mess dude" Eddie said with a giggle.

"No, nothing like that, just stop jumping to conclusions before I can explain" Manny said feeling a bit self conscious now.

"Wait! I have a guess! He really missed you and went racing over and like, licked you..." Said Crash, well it was what his girl friend did the other night when they said good bye, it had been kind of sweet.

Manny had to shout his explanation out to stand a chance of explaining himself over the possums, so his _'happy news' _was snapped more than a little forcefully at them **"He has a whole bunch of kid's OK! And I've been playing with them! That's all, end of mystery!"**

"What kind of kids?" Sid asked suspiciously, while the others cowered back from the angry Manny.

"The Diego kind,(Manny was well aware of the herd of mammoths not far off who he had just woken up with his shouting, so was careful with his words) And there's loads of them" He whispered. Manny braced himself to be pulled back the way he had just come by a very excited sloth.

"Oh, **that**kind" Sid grumbled and turned away with an air of total indifference. After he had wandered sufficiently away to be alone, he pretended to be more interested in rearranging some pebbles with his feet whilst grumbling to himself " There will be plenty more hunting then, all day every day no doubt, never made him feel left out when it was **my** family. Then it was 'Oh Sid can I help with the fun and joy that you bring to everything you do?' And I was 'sure I don't mind sharing my family', and my herd now that I think about it. But now it's all **his** family and **his** stupid kind of fun...." Sid kicked a stone extra hard as he carried on.

Mean while Crash carried on unaware of the miserable sloth moaning away in the background. "We only left him yesterday he really works fast, even by possum standards!"

"He's only looking after them" Manny corrected while watching Sid surprised at the sloths reaction. He was relieved in a way as that had been enough walking for one day, but annoyed also because now he would have to council Sid on something no doubt really stupid, again.

"That sounds so cute we should go see tomorrow" Ellie said well aware that Peaches was yawning already for such a trip tonight. Any girl otherwise would gladly walk all night for the chance to play with kittens. Two nights if ponies are involved!

"Some of us might have things to do tomorrow! " Sid shouted, annoyed that his pebble rearranging had been totally lost on Ellie.

"Oh well, whenever then, I guess he'll have them a while." Ellie said while looking over to Manny and pulling a face to enquire _'what's up with Sid?'_

Manny shrugged to reply, '_what's not up with Sid?'_

Well she wasn't going to venture into that right now as this herd was so childish; she would wait for a more private moment to talk heart to heart with him. She gave a dismissive yet elegant wave of her trunk to say _'it can wait till morning now I'm sure'._

Manny rolled his eyes implying '_she took that sloth far too seriously'_. Ellie ignored him; she was far too nosy to leave this totally alone.

The possums looked from Ellie to Manny, and wondered when they had started using this new code language to keep secrets from them?

A horribly cold gust of wind blew around them all, reminding them that it was late and they were still out in the open.

Ellie heard carried on that breeze a distant and terrible screech. "Eddie I could be mistaken but isn't that your girl friend?" She said.

Eddie could not believe he had forgotten that he had grown up recently and slapped his own brow.

"Why does she have to scream like that?" Manny asked.

"It is a very sophisticated means of communication allowing for long distance talk to take place between friends actually Manny" Was the possums tart reply. He didn't really understand what it meant but decided he could use it to boast his own secret language.

"Still sounds terrible" Manny concluded.

"Well your voice isn't too everyones taste either, now if you will excuse us!" Eddie bounced off in the direction of that scream with Crash hot on his heels.

"Possums don't usually scream, do they?" Manny asked Ellie.

"No, that is unique to that possum" Ellie paused as a long and mournful wolf howl sounded seemingly in answer to the screeching scream. "I guess she won't be screaming like that for much longer though as she's attracting more than those boy's attention. Do you think we should make sure they're safe?"

"Ellie I can't see a thing in this dark, we will just end up tripping over looking for them. I'm sure they will be fine; they're all grown up now apparently after all. Let's just get out of this cold wind already; all this kitten slobber is freezing my fur"

Ellie, Sid, Peaches and Manny walked back to the mammoth herd and found a place sheltered from the wind to sleep. Ellie waited till Peaches was sound asleep and Sid snoring before asking Manny "So what's up with Sid do you think? He wasn't at all excited about playing with the cubs"

"I think Diego is seeing someone else and Sid is feeling left out, three's a crowd and all that" Manny replied.

"Really?" Ellie tried but failed not to sound to shocked.

"Well, he is looking after these kids for a 'lady friend' from a local pack, probably to impress her, and now Sid refuses to see him" Manny concluded, this explanation made sense to him at least. He looked to Ellie to see if she agreed, she was better with these kind of issues than he was he had to admit.

"So Sid's left out, well it was bound to happen they weren't going to stay single _together_ forever" Ellie said, hoping it made sense.

"I thought they would" Manny caught Ellie's surprised look even in the dark, so explained." Think about it, Diego hates family situations and Sid is the most unlikely person to gross him out by falling in love. Sid hopes that if he's seen around Diego enough he will be considered cool by association and attract some blind girl, eventually. Perhaps she would have to be deaf as well as his voice would still grate"

"Hmmm. Why does Diego hate families? He wanted out of the herd before when Peaches was due didn't he?" Ellie Pondered out load.

"Maybe it was something in his past that made him miserable"

"And why does Sid want a family so very badly? He was so insistent that we got together for a happily ever after, and remember those eggs of his? How happy he was with them despite Diego having just left him?"

"Maybe there was something in **his** past that hit him on the head too hard?" Manny said while thinking desperately hard whether or not Sid was like that when they first met? Maybe **he** had hit Sid too hard and damaged him? No he had hardly touched him before Pinkie had come along and Sid was defiantly Sid then, so something indeed must have happened predating their acquaintance. Manny sighed in relief, he did not have to feel guilty for the way Sid was, just strangely responsible for his welfare.

"Manny why do you not know what happened to your best friends before you met them?"

"Uh, it never came up?" Manny replied, she was going to accuse him of being insensitive again wasn't she. But they only knew about his past because some human had decided to document (animate) it on his living room wall, stuff like that wasn't something that men liked to talk about.

"Well tomorrow it's coming up, I'm going to figure this out once and for all" Ellie said decisively, if you want something done and want it done right, then she really had to do it herself. This had been allowed to go on for too long; tomorrow this problem was at least going to get addressed!

"Yeah? Good luck with that!" Manny said. If Ellie wanted to go there, then he was not about to stop her. The whole experience might give her more sympathy as to what he had been up against all this time.

They both settled down to sleep; tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Hi Emma" Called Eddie excitedly. Tonight he was going to show her the secrets behind his best ever pranks, he really felt that they were ready for that level of commitment.

"Hi Fleet" Called Crash and hugged her long wet tongue as Fleet welcomed him in her very unique way.

"And what happened to you guys last night?" Emma snapped! Eddie stopped in his tracks as he held his arms out to embrace her. Emma was not happy.

"We were hanging out with a few of my sisters friends" Explained Eddie.

"Oh were you now. Well I hope you had fun." Emma didn't mean a word of this.

Oblivious to her sarcastic tone Crash decided to tell her all about the great time they had had. "Yeah it was great you should have been there, there was stories till late into the night and then we held a skiing competition."

"I thought you wanted to grow up" Emma looked hard at Eddie and even tapped her toes in irritation. She had liked him, but maybe she had been mistaken. Maybe she should end this game with him, if he wasn't serious about this then maybe nor was she anymore.

"We decided the other night that I was grown up enough, remember? Emma why are you so mad?" Eddie asked.

"**That**what you were doing last night all sounds like baby stuff to me! Grown up's should be looking for a place to live and think more about how they are going to provide for a family" Emma said.

"We kind of travel a lot because well my sister eats far too much for any one place to provide, so _we have _to keep moving around!" Explained Eddie desperately trying to excuse himself. But both Manny and Ellie had enjoyed the stories and games just as much as he did, so it wasn't that bad! Surely Emma was over reacting! He remembered how much trouble Manny had getting together with Ellie then and wondered if indeed this wasn't payback for being unforgivably naughty back then.

"But that's no life for a stable family environment!" Emma snapped. "Well, while you have been away _playing,_ **I** have been looking for a hollow tree of our own, now come see what I found"

"Um, I was wondering if actually we could just have fun tonight" Said Eddie with the kind of puppy dog eyes that meant he always got his way with anyone else.

"**Fun!** You can have all the _fun_ you like when the kids are grown up and left, now come on" Emma bounded off expecting Eddie to follow.

Eddie looked desperately to Crash his expression read clearly _'save me!!!'_

Crash gave him a wave and turned instead to his girl friend Fleet "So what do you fancy doing this fine evening?" She may be a wolf and the relationship may have its limitations, but boy did he ever get the right sister to go out with.

"We could play out in the valley; see if we can go faster than ever before" Fleet said with a lot of wonder to her voice.

"Excellent plan" Well it wasn't practical jokes with his brother but it wasn't growing (or throwing) up either. Plus, he thought positively Eddie will be going through a midlife crisis soon enough anyway and would need to get in touch with his inner child again. Until then he had such a lot of material to tease him with! He was going to have more fun with this then they had had with poor old Manny easy! He tried hard not to rub his hands and laugh out loud in an evil manner.

* * *

Eddie reluctantly followed Emma. She could be very sweet sometimes, or was that she _looked _very sweet and was the first girl that he had encountered that he wasn't related too? He was going to have to think about that because the thought of leaving his herd and brother to live in a stupid tree was not good. And it was all so soon too. Well maybe this was how fast these things happened, but he felt that they really should know each other for a couple of weeks before house hunting. Eddie got a terrible case of 'cold foot' and stopped following Emma. "Emma we got to talk"

"Right after you see this!" Emma pointed to a large hollow tree in front of where he had stopped.

Eddie gazed upon it in wonder, it looked just like the tree he grew up in. It even had a ground floor garage area where they had kept Ellie before she could climb. Also when she fell too hard and bent her trunk she would stay there, mum considered it safer. With such warm fuzzy thoughts Eddie forgot his cold feet and ventured in, just to see.

It wasn't as good as it had looked, it needed a lookout post.

"Come see this next one, it's bigger and has turrets!" Emma said, her mood had swung back to cheerful now she was getting her way.

"Then can we have fun?"

"Sure" She replied noticing that he wasn't yet sold on the whole idea that this _was_ the fun game. "Relax this gets better as we go on!"

"Alright one more"

Emma grinned and led on. In fact she led him on all night.

* * *

Eddie and Fleet spent a long night not being grown up. Then at early dawn Fleet unexpectedly slowed down. She was physically unable to continue running madly around after things anymore and her stomach rumbled. She began to whine.

"What's wrong?" Exclaimed Crash, was she broken?

"I'm _**really**_ hungry" Whined Fleet desperately sad.

"Why didn't you just say? What do you eat?" Crash asked, maybe he could fix this, she was his friend after all.

"What Emma gives me?" Fleet wasn't really sure she should explain _what_ Emma gave her.

"Huh?"

"She finds my food for me, she always has, but lately she seems to want to play with the food instead"

This was lost on Crash "Well maybe I can help to feed you"

"Oh but I like you now. I'd feel real uncomfortable. I don't have many friends." Whined was very hungry, it had been quite a while now since she last ate. So as much as she didn't want to, she agreed because she really didn't know when her next meal would be and at least this would tide her over a while. _Maybe I should start to learn for myself_ she thought, _if only_ _someone would just show me how first!_ "Oh well if you really don't mind" Fleet lowered her head to eat Crash.

"Aw, think nothing of it, really!"

rash. She was really going to miss him, and what if she did this bit wrong! But she was so hungry.

Crash presumed she was going to lick him again for being sooo great! "No I don't mind you see I have a friend who eats meat and I bet he won't mind sharing with you!" He said just as the jaws got really close.

Fleet paused as this news worked its way into her brain "Great! That's even better, because you're my first boy friend and I think that may have counted as '_ending badly'_ "

"Aw, we wouldn't have to split, I understand we have differences! Just come with me back to my place and I'll ask him"

"Great jump on and we can run!"

"Great!" Crash felt good, for the first time he was useful.

* * *

Dawn saw Sid wake up extra early, and with the stealth of a super ninja, he crept away from the sleeping Manny and Ellie.

Peaches was also awake. She had been content up until now to watch the sunrise, but now she got up to follow him. She tip toed also with great skill behind Sid wondering what he was up to. Sid ducked behind a particularly large pile of poop (a rock or hedge would have been nice but you have to keep things realistic) and then he risked looking back to see if Manny had yet noticed the gapping great hole in his life since his disappearance. He came eye to eye with Peaches and screamed very girl like in terror.

Peaches giggled.

Sid had woken most of the camp and quickly ducked down out of sight. "Quick! Peaches help hide me!" Sid whispered desperately.

"Why? What are we playing?"

"This is not a game! Manny, uh your Daddy wants to understand my problems of late and he has no qualifications for such actions, so I must not let him! I can't blame him for trying, he sees me do it all the time and I do make it look easy, but it takes great skill, skill which takes a life time to possess"

"Weren't we going home today?"

"Yes we were but I've got to prove that I'm a good parent first. Once Manny, Daddy sees that, he will be on my side when I come to tell Diego off"

"Why are you going to tell Diego off for?"

"For snatching my only lifelong dream! And being better at it than me! And now he's gone and got loads more kids without even consulting me first! We were a team, but **no!** He had to have all the glory when he saw what a good thing I had! He had to steal it all for himself and make me look useless because I'm not a predator like them and can't understand all their instincts and whatever else they have in common that I don't'. Well I will show him who's best, they will **all** know who's best!"

"I don't know if that was so bad, he was only trying to help, everyone thinks you need help uncle Sid"

"Well I don't, and I'm going to prove it"

"How?"

"I really don't know. Help me think of something"

"Why don't you go home and be a good parent? "

"No too obvious, I wanted something more attention grabbing. I know I will volunteer myself to be bait in big Mick's trap. Then they will all remember how much they need me and then everyone will be sorry"

"Uncle Sid, that is really silly"

"It worked before with _'the emissorator'_ (that massive waterfall he went to jump off of in 2). Watch and learn Peaches, this is how to win friends!"

"I'm telling dad"

"Oh no, it's got to be a surprise" Sid looked back to where Manny and Ellie slept, while others had been woken up by his pathetic screaming, they slept on. Well they had had years of getting used to Sid's pathetic screaming after all. Sid breathed a sigh of relief. "Peaches you have to promise not to tell Manny... or else!"

"Or else?"

"Or else I will steal your nose!"

"You can't..."

Sid did the old '_I got your nose trick!'_ his long claw looked deceptively like a little trunk wiggling in his clutched paw.

"Give it back!" squealed Peaches.

"Not unless you promise **not** to tell your Dad!"

"I promise!"

Sid pretended to plant the never missing trunk back into place. "Now go play with the other kids Peaches, uncle Sid has some important stuff to do" Sid snuck off leaving a traumatised and worried Peaches to deal with the aftershock of having been blackmailed into doing something she knew was wrong. Luckily Peaches was very mature for her age and came up with a solution quite quickly, she would tell her Mum what Sid was up to and then she would tell Dad. Then Sid would get told off for being so bad _**again**_ and Peaches would have kept her promise and so would keep her nose. She went back to her parents and tried to wake them but they were both sound asleep. It took little Peaches fifteen minutes to finally rouse her mother and by then it was too late.

Manny and Ellie woke up to find big old Mick standing over them looking rather smug.

"Manfred! It's nice to see you're still with us!" Then on closer inspection Mick plucked from Manny's hundreds of thousands of hairs, a single cat hair, "Yes so nice that your still with us after what must have been a very close encounter indeed, wont you please enlighten me as to _**how**_ you are still with us?"

"How did that get there?" Manny Said. "Boy you would think I went out looking for trouble!" his visit yesterday was causing way more hassle than it had been worth.

"Well I had better let you know, Old Bill went missing yesterday" Said Mick, after a dramatic pause he went on."So no more going out on your own, it's too dangerous at the moment".

"How do you know Bill is not just out strolling?" Ellie Asked.

"We called him for ages when we noticed he was missing, searched the whole valley in teams, we found no sign of him. But we did find our perfect ambush sight! And now we have our bait thanks to you Manny. Who would have thought that sticky little sloth would be so...." Mick was going to say stupid but thought of a better word for the occasion in time "plucky! So don't you guy's worry, we will have this saber problem of ours cleared up in no time at all!" Mick walked off with that to prepare his trap.

"What's he talking about?" Ellie asked Manny once they were alone.

"There seems to be a pack of very strong sabers, and it would seem that they have a taste for mammoth" replied Manny with a depressing sincerity to his voice.

"Well how do we know it's not the humans? Or that he just doesn't want to be found?"

"Mick has made it his mission to squash every predator going starting with this saber pack regardless, and now he's using our Sid to lure them. How did he get hold of Sid from under our trunks?"

"Sid went to them! He wants attention and for you to think that he is a good parent" Peaches said finally. Well she had not told so she had kept her promise, she had just explained why.

Manny and Ellie both looked at each other. Manny smirked.

"What's so funny?" Ellie asked.

"They will be waiting a long time, Diego said last night about the sabers being out of town while he looks after the kids"

"Which means that they didn't kill Old Bill" Said Ellie

"This means I will have to save Sid before whatever did kill Bill comes after him! Oh and here I was thinking I could just leave that sloth to get out of his own mess for once" grumbled Manny.

"Well maybe we could save him after breakfast, after all **if** they ate a whole mammoth last night then they aren't going to eat smelly old sloth too soon" encouraged Ellie. She always did manage to see the bright side.

"Good thinking, sometimes I got to wonder if we're the only sane mammals here" Manny said. He was feeling quite contented that Ellie understood his way of thinking more than any other mammoth he had ever met.

* * *

Well here it is, it's not much but it's where we hang out" Crash said as he climbed down off of Fleet. "Hi Diego, I was wondering if..." Crash stopped when he saw Diego.

Diego was standing with his back arched high and his fur on end. When he realised it was just _one_ wolf and not a pack he calmed himself down and sat as if not noticing the new comers, other than to talk to Crash. (ultimate insult by cat standards)

"Crash there is a stinking, great, stupid wolf right behind you"

"Yeah I know, this is my friend, Fleet"

"That isn't staying!" Diego stated more than just said.

"That is my girlfriend pal, and she's not done anything to you!" Said Crash, he remembered how Diego had not liked him and his brother for a long time when they first joined the herd. Obviously he had trust issues.

"Just look at her with her slack jaw, stupid expression and slobber; we already got Sid looking gormless we don't need a stupid dog messing up the place as well" Diego snapped.

"But ten more cats is ok?" returned Crash.

"Cat people are smart; these (the cubs) make our herd extra smart"

"Anyone with more than two cats are known as '_crazy cat people'_ actually!" Said Crash and turned to walk back to Fleet. He soon came to an unexpected halt as his string like tail was being held by three sets of small paws.

Diego who had been thinking about how actually every time he had sat with just one feline friend it was good, but whenever there was a pack of them, then things soon became indeed a bit crazy, and strange obsessive behaviour indeed took over. He stopped thinking too deeply about the reasons behind that when he noticed the cubs play with Crash's tail, he had a good idea. "Ok she can stay **if **you look after my kids for a while"

"Wow really you'd let me play with them? What do I do?" After all they, like everything else, were too big for Crash too physically control.

"Just run around and let them chase your tail until they can't stand up any more, easy!" explained Diego while thinking how easy _his_ life was now going to be.

"Easy!" Exclaimed Crash with childish delight before remembering why he had come here in the first place. "Ah, wait what's in it for me huh? Fleet needs food, so you help her and I will help you, that's fair!"

"I'm not feeding your dog"

"Then I'm not playing mouse"

"Ok already!" Diego said sounding like a crabby teenager, "Come on doggy let's make this quick" thank goodness Sara's pack was out of town and no one was going to see this. "And Crash if anything happens to them while I'm gone; you know accidents and such, try and keep count of any fatalities! I can't stand looking for them any more then I have to!"

Crash looked at the little cubs with great pity; there was a great lack of love in this camp.

* * *

"What do we do?" Asked Fleet excitedly, she trotted alongside the sour cat stopping to trot on the spot every four steps or so, so not to overtake too much.

"What can you do?" growled Diego; everything about her irritated him to his core.

"I can run! I can run all day, every day!" Fleet boasted with more than a little pride.

"And what else?"

"What else is there?" Fleet looked blank as she said this, like she had suddenly become very lost.

"Well can you herd things?" Diego asked.

Again Fleet looked blank.

Diego without being to patronising tried talking more slowly and clearly to the wolf. "If I wait over there" He pointed with a paw making sure she was following, "by those trees, can you chase those caribou over to me?" Fleet stood motionless and blank. At _least she isn't breathing like a steam_ _train any more_, Diego thought. He carried on explaining hoping that this was sinking in on some level. "Then I can take one as it runs by in a classic 'pack hunting' technique, you must have done this before?" Well he wasn't all clued up on wolf hunting methods, but they had to be similar to his own pack.

"No, never" Said Fleet honestly.

"Then how have you got to be a year old?" He guessed at her age, well she looked about that, _'ish_.

"Well my sister feeds me small critters usually, but she doesn't seem to keen on playing that game lately, she seems to have a new one" Replied Fleet quite sad that Emma was best friends with Eddie now. Did that mean that she was never going to feed her again?

"Odd" Diego said, he had never heard of just two wolves travelling around together, "So where's your pack?"

"No pack, just sister"

"Dog, uh is she a wolf your sister?" It did hurt him to be polite, but she looked a bit pitiful now she stood still, thin and young, and lost.

"Possum!" Fleet answered cheering up at the thought of her friend. Maybe Crash, who looked like Emma, minus the hips, might look after her now!

"Strange" Diego said more to himself than anything, this herd seemed to attract nutters "But you know you're a wolf right?" Well he was curious.

"Duh, of course" said Fleet looking at Diego like _he_ was nuts.

Diego decided to leave it at that, he wasn't going to care about some stupid pup. "Well let's hunt!"

Fleet ran off to circle around the herd and began to herd (not just chase) them in the right direction.

The hunt went like text book. Diego picked an old frail individual and took it down without incident; it was all over within half an hour of starting.

.

Fleet was back beside Diego in an instant, he could not be sure but he thought she was begging. "Well eat then" He told her, he wasn't going to have to explain eating to her as well, was he?

Fleet edged up to the carcass and picked up a hoof, then like a snake tried to swallow it whole. Needless to say she didn't get too far with that approach so tried instead jabbing it with her paw. Diego sat back amused that she didn't know where to start, his amusement evaporated however when he realised he _was_ going to have to be responsible after all and teach her how to deal with a meal this big.

This took ages as she was a slow learner, but they got there in the end and once fed they concentrated on what they could carry back to the cubs. Diego pulled off a big cut to carry, Fleet did not. She ate the cut Diego gave her to carry and made to head back.

"Hey wait up, we are both taking some back" Diego snapped at her unable to tolerate her stupidity any more.

"I know" replied Fleet.

"So get some to carry back" Growled Diego.

"I have" Replied Fleet wagging her tail.

"Get some that I can _see_ to carry back!"

"You never said that" Well she did to make him happy. Then she half buried the scrapes that were left, she didn't know why she did that but it felt a very natural thing to do. Then she raced to catch the plodding tiger up, ran a few excited circles around him, realised that he wasn't going to play and plodded respectfully behind, as best she could.

.

When they got back the cubs had Crash trapped. He sat out of reach on a boulder swinging his tail side to side as they leapt and grabbed for it without hope of actually reaching him. They turned as one as Diego and Fleet returned and raced over to relieve them of their food. The food was gone seemingly before it even hit the ground; it was lost in the mass of small hungry mouths. The instant that it was lost from view the cubs forgot that it had ever been there at all and started at the adults looking for more.

Fleet felt her mothering instants take hold as they crowded around begging and barfed up some more food for them. The cubs fell on 'round two' just as vigorously before Diego could say please don't eat that, instead he just grimaced.

"That's sick" Crash found his voice (It is what wolves do)

Fleet wagged her tail, now the cubs would be full, she had done good! She began to clean them while they were occupied and less likely to wriggle.

Diego watched suspiciously to make sure she did not eat them at first, and then relaxed. All in all he patted himself on the back for being so resourceful, they were all fed and washed and it wasn't even midday yet! Who needs Sid? He had man's best friend right here. She even played with them some teasing them with a bit of stick.

By now it was midday and that is snooze time. Crash carefully lowered himself down from his high boulder and hiding his tail behind his back so not to attract attention crept over to Diego.

"So the guys not back yet then huh!" crash said, it had been the plan to comeback today when he left last night. He wondered what had happened.

"Nope" Replied Diego."Just what's so great over there anyway?"

"Nothing really" Replied Crash "Our herd's way better; they do have some good slopes though"

"Humph"

"So what are their names?" Crash asked wistfully as the cubs cuddled up around Fleet and her soothing maternal skills.

Diego felt a pang of jealous anger that they could be so disloyal to him, but did not call them back as they were now dripping with wolf slobber where she had gotten carried away with the cleaning. He didn't even like them anyway! He dismissed the alien feeling and tried to recall what Crash had just said "There's Snowball, he's the big white one ... Uh I don't know the rest" He admitted finally.

"You don't know? How long have you had them?" Crash asked, with a small amount of horror to his voice.

"Since the night before last" Seemed like ages. "'_Hey you_', will do they are all usually bad at the same time anyway"

"And I thought I wasn't ready to start a family but you take the biscuit! That is just terrible"

Being told off by Crash! Diego shuddered, how he had ever come to this personal low! "I never wanted any of them, there is a big difference! Anyway they are fed and clean and safe thanks to me, so I can't be that bad" Diego said, a bit hurt at the criticism.

"Do you feel grown up having the cubs around? I mean do you feel any different?" Crash continued in his wistful tone.

"I'm tired, my temper is even shorter, I don't think a minute has gone by that I haven't rolled my eyes, and I'm sure I'm starting to lose my hair, that could just be moult though."

"No change then" Crash sighed with relief. "When Eddie wanted to grow up I was worried we would have to change, but I think that I am just perfect as the fun loving cool dude I am now. I have a lot to give"

"Oh please responsibility, strict rules and a clear heavy hand is needed when bringing up kids, probably why you possums turned out to be such miscreants"

"No this is just the way possums are, its fun! I wouldn't want to be anything else. Are all sabers brought up to be guarded, inhibited, sarcastic and aggressive loners made to feel inadequate all their lives till they finally die trying to best each other?"

"Yeah I suppose we are." Diego siged remembering the fun bickering that went on in his own pack.

"That explains why you're so messed up and miserable then"

"It's the right attitude to get through a very tough life style. Beat or get beaten. Do or die, survival of the fittest, and all that"

"I'm sure. Still miserable though. Good thing you didn't think like that when you met Sid and Manny"

"I did, but that was different, then it was survival, now it's about providing when I think like that again, a bit" It was slowly dawning on Diego not only was he reverting back to his old tiger ways, but he was also becoming his cantankerous old dad. This had to stop! he had to start having fun again before it was too late "Nothing serious, shouldn't have said that, Your looking worried now, I wouldn't ever get that bad tempered really"

"When you met Manny and Sid you were going to eat them right, back when you were really tetchy"

"Maybe, but my pack made me tetchy"

"How long did it take for them to become your friends?"

"Three days. I changed my mind after three long days, why?"

Oh no reason, Crash counted on his hand how long the herd had been separated for and decided it was time they got back together if he wanted to continue to boast a saber as a friend to any potential prank critic seeking revenge on him "Well it's getting late we'd better go" He mock stretched and headed over to shake Fleet awake.

"Go where?" Diego asked suspiciously. They were having fun over there weren't they!

"See what Ellie and Peaches are up to. See if we're moving yet, you know"

"If you see Sid tell him to get back here, like really tell him to get back here! Say it like you mean it!"

"Sure I will, come on Fleet"

"And she might not be welcome around Manny's new friends; mammoths are very, well like mammoths"

"You can say that again no fear of laughing up there that's for sure, or here now that I think about it!" Crash said as he left, he had not been aware of it before but the fun that he and Eddie provided was essential to eveyones well being! They had to get back to work as soon as possible!

The cub's looked longingly after Fleet as she went. Then they stumbled over to Diego to pinch his body heat. Diego felt like such a tied down house wife waiting for everyone to return. Well he wasn't going to wait around any longer! He was going for a walk. He pulled himself up out from under them. "Come on kids let's go prey spotting" He didn't wait for a reply he just expected them to follow.

The cubs were full and tired but Diego set an easy pace and curiosity was too great to resist. Hunting was really important and really fun so they stumbled after him. One little spotty brown cub made a point of walking by his shoulder. Swatting no doubt, he ignored her along with the rest.

* * *

As Manny,Ellie and Peaches ate a very long breakfast together news of another hunt on the plains below was whispered about the herd, followed by '_Big Mick will sort it all out'_.

Manny heaved a great sigh of irritation. He could ignore it no longer, he would have to go find Sid. Ellie was about to accompany him when a younger mammoth approached her sheepishly despite his 'hard core' appearance.

"Ellie" He said.

She turned "Yes Jeremy"

"We were wondering if like, you wanted to try this new game we kind of invented. We call it tobogganing"

"What's that?"

"Well after we were woken up really early, some of us started carving some ice runs, you can go a lot faster on ice than on snow you know, but it really smarts when it wears a whole through your fur. So we have just gathered a load of hollow old trees and made cars out of them. It's all ready if you want to give it a try"

"We-ell" Ellie looked to Manny with a pleading '_can we please do this first?' _look in her eye_._

"You go ahead hon. I can get this" Manny said pleased that Ellie would be kept out of any harm's way, well other than the self inflicted harm anyway.

Ellie squealed in reply and scuttled off Leaving Manny and Peaches. Manny had expected Peaches to go with her but Peaches was set on putting her herd, and her fun back together. Manny noticed the other children milling about in a play ground of ice and snow and promptly deposited Peaches off with them.

"Now stay with the other kids till Daddy gets back with naughty old Uncle Sid, I won't be long!" Manny knew that Peaches wasn't happy but she would be safer there, and this would only take a few minutes surely.

Peaches looked at the other kids. They were still boring. She wandered off over to the cliff edge and admired the fine view over the vast valley below and there she spotted her uncle Diego directly below. Being responsible for her age she waited till she was sure it was him, yep that white blob was Snowball, she disappeared over the edge of the cliff to climb down and see if they were doing anything interesting today.

* * *

Terrible place to stop but I need to think more before I commit... so there.

Also please send all happy healing thoughts this way urgently!! My happy chick is sick! This makes her extra cute as she lays on my foot rather than just stands on it, even when ill she is the coolest hen in england! Rem happy healing powers this way please!


	8. So we meet again!

It was nearly dawn and finally Emma had run out of potential homes to show to Eddie.

"So which one did you like best?" She asked

Eddie yawned "I guess it has to be between numbers three and twenty seven"

"Not eighteen?"

"Uh that one was alright, but the neighbours"

"Those scrats?"

"Yeah they were just so obnoxious"

"I could move them" Emma said as if she would be moving a few leaves.

"Can we sleep on it? It's a really big decision this and one which I think we both need to take some time to think really hard over."

"But I need a decision now so I can take time to find the right furniture to match"

"Fine, I guess I liked twenty seven the best then"

"Really? More than eighteen"

"Yes more than eighteen. Eighteen was a bit too big, it just felt cold"

"All that extra space would come in handy by our third litter you know. I read just the other day that kids are staying with their parents for far longer than previous generations, we have got to consider that"

Third litter? He had only just scraped through his third date! "Eighteen then" Maybe if he could get rid of her even for five minutes, he could run away, mask his scent and hide till the herd moved on out of reach.

"You don't mean that, you're just agreeing"

"No, I really liked that one, with its moat and stuff. You just choose the furniture you like and I will be right over here... sleeping, OK?"

"Eighteen didn't have a moat, your confusing it with nineteen. We need to review eighteen so you can see why it is the best, come on!" She pulled him back to where hollow tree number eighteen stood, or had stood. Now there was just a hole where it had been yanked up out of the ground.

"Where did it go?" Emma asked mystified. It was a whole tree, and a big one at that, and now it was just gone.

"Wow I'm sure glad we weren't in it when that happened!" Eddie joked before he realised the potential 'gift horse' opportunity that this presented, he straightened up "Maybe living in trees is not as safe as it's cracked up to be" He cautioned with the most gravely serious voice that would ever leave his lips.

Emma stood looking hard at the hole in the ground, her fists were clenched tight and tears of frustrated rage boiled in her eyes, how dare someone snatch her dream away from her just moments from when she decided to set her heart on it.

Eddie saw the tears in her eyes and mistook them for tears of hopeless woe. Despite considering running out on her in a most cowardly fashion a moment ago he wiped the tears of joy from his own eyes to comfort her, as no one likes to see a pretty girl all upset.

"Maybe this just wasn't meant to be"

"Sixteen was good! Let's go see sixteen again!" But sixteen was gone and so was seventeen. These trees were not in a dense forest but dotted around in small groups, it would take all day to find out what was left now to choose from. "What could have done this!" Emma screamed.

Eddie noted the large, round and very familiar foot prints in the dirt around each stump and hole. "It could have been anything" He said and smiled as he thanked his lucky stars for what must be his sister's subtle intervention to prevent her favourite brother from being taken from the herd. This had to be it, they all missed him and his devilishly brilliant wit, and even now they were probably following, trying to get him back any way they could.

"Well there's plenty more homes where these came from! Come on Eddie!" Emma snapped and pulled him along behind her. Eddie dragged behind scanning the horizon for his herd who must be somewhere nearby, he saw nothing.

"We've been up all night Em can't we find somewhere later on, after some rest?"

"If you want something in life Eddie, one thing I've learned is that you have to seize it when you can, so no, no rest till I'm happy"

This could take a life time! He really didn't know that much about Emma "Uh, where did you learn that? And why would you learn that?"

"When you have had to fend for yourself for as long as I have you learn a lot"

"Fend for yourself against what?" Did she not have a wolf pack to defend her? Where was this pack? "Where is your, Fleets and your family?" Where were they to help stop her irrational behaviour?

"Our family?" Emma's slowed in her tracks as she thought hard. Eddie caught up enough to see her face. Thoughts and ideas flashed across her features, he recognised this second's hesitation to answer what was a straight forward question. He had seen it on Diego a few too many times, she was about to tell a whopper of a lie! She just hadn't formed it quite yet.

Emma looked back into Eddies eyes; he was not as naive as she had thought. She needed to distract him. She took hold of his face and pulled him closer to herself and kissed him. She kissed him like she really meant it, long and slow. Eddie forgot his questions, his herd and his internal disputes and doubts from before. That was nice. Emma grinned, she had him again. She let go of him and bounded off in search of a more stable house. Eddie followed. If he had looked harder at the scenery around them he would have seen her pack, or at least what was left of them. Four wolf skulls left exposed by the melting snow stared with hollow eyes where the two possums kissed, unnoticed by all.

Ellie took a long hard look at the craftsmanship of the ice chute sculpted earlier that day by the younger mammoths of the herd. They were at that difficult stage in life when hormones and energy levels peek and a satisfying non destructive outlet is needed. They had been driving themselves as well as their elders to distraction before Ellie had given them some creative focus. Sports and the idea of competitive events that didn't need a foe to bash, as the elders hogged those competitions, was the ideal pastime.

Their efforts were good, but a splash or two more water here or there would be needed to keep the cart from leaving the track in places. Ellie was a bit of an expert at this kind of fun, but even she was impressed at the tree cart idea, this was going to be very fast!

"A few test runs with an empty cart and we are nearly there!" She announced. They blew a collective sigh of relief, it had looked kind of dangerous, fun but dangerous, and they had met the approval of their new sports mentor!

Ellie chose a good tree trunk from the pile that had been gathered from all around earlier by the teenagers especially for today's events. This one was particularly heavy and very solid; she struggled to lift it so Jeremy rushed in to help.

"You carried all these up from the valley?"

"Yeah. We don't get up to much around here, not much fun stuff anyway. I think that this is going to change now you've started this competitive sports idea"

"You can thank possums for that, just don't venture to far into competitive pranks, it's all downhill from there"

Unfortunately the 'downhill', 'competitive' and 'pranks' all set in young Jeremy's mind where like seeds they waited for a ripe opportunity to germinate.

Together they lay the log down and after correcting its angle several times launched it down the ice chute. Clumsily it rocked and rolled its way down, bashing the sides rather than flowing with them as it needed a passenger to steer it correctly. Finally it made it to the bottom as a pile of dry splinters and nothing more. Several teens positioned at various points along the chute reported its finished state as successful, but not successful. This information was relayed back to Ellie and Jeremy at the top.

"Right, it's time for a real test run!" Ellie said. That was the most precaution she had ever taken, being a mother now she had to be responsible after all, she couldn't just rush in like she once would have done. She picked out another suitable log from the twenty or so gathered in a pile. She examined all its sides and chose a top and bottom, then smashed her foot into it to create a seat area. She smashed quite a lot out before she could crouch down into it sufficiently to get fully aerodynamic. As she looked in to see if any more of the rotten dry interior could come out she found and held aloft a small dolls house table with chair set. _Strange?_ She thought, then threw them to one side as she did not need the extra weight. She then pulled it over ready for her maiden voyage.

"Wait!" Jeremy said unsure that his natural instincts to preserve life, especially mammoth life fully agreed with this, "What if..."

Ellie placed a very mothering trunk on the young bulls shoulder and said very sagely, "If we don't try, we will never know what we are missing. Now I couldn't live with that" Then leaving him very bewildered went all out for a running launch jumping in at the very last moment to set the first toboggan speed record and fastest mammoth land speed record with a "whooo hoooo!"

Sid sat in his designated spot, with his back up against the cliff wall and a beautiful view of open pastures before him. He waited as patently as a sloth of his nature could for anything at all to happen. Eight mammoths hid strategically some distance away watching him from behind trees rocks and gullies. He had been told five minutes ago not to communicate with any of them thus giving away their positions so Sid found himself very, very bored indeed.

He was only here at all as a childish stunt for his herd's attentions, and to make Diego sorry for putting him through all those stupid boring hunts. That guy was so selfish with what they did with their time together. Sid would have had them 'enjoying the moment' at every given opportunity not sitting around waiting for nothing to happen because that is exactly what big cats call fun! He was so unfair!

"_Wait a minute! My protest seems to be involving me sitting around waiting for nothing to happen! This idea of Peaches is seriously floored! I might as well have been out hunting! I might even have learnt something by now!_ Sid thought to himself. "Right enough's enough chaps!" Sid got up and addressed the air in general "I am bored and hungry and your trap is stupid, so I'm off, see ya!"

Mick silently threw some peanuts at the sloth to make him stay put; he was prepared to have to bribe the bait for this task.

"Oh thanks!" Sid scoffed the snack. "But I'm still going! A sloth needs quality time in its life to appreciate the finer things, so..." Sid found himself gagged and bound with a bit of vine and plonked back down against the rocky wall. Mick was determined to catch a predator today whether the bait was willing or not.

Well from the top Peach's path had looked straight forward enough, but in reality it was proving to be anything but. What she couldn't see from her vantage point was just how steep and treacherous this way down was. She had had to skirt around several obstacles which had unknown to her changed her course a little each time. Also she had gotten stuck once or twice which cost her a bit of time. Overall however she made her way down the perilous cliff face safely and began her search for her uncle.

She did not know where she was but rememberd that her mum was definitely up, so she wandered alongside the steep cliff edge looking for a sign as to where her uncle was before committing to wandering out too far. Soon she came across a familiar scent, her other uncle Sid was nearby. She walked on some more and noticed her surroundings had become eerily suspious. She felt very uncomfortable, as if she was being watched. So she gathered some long grass and made a disguise for herself. She continued on, stopping, watching and checking often, before shuffling on again.

She soon spotted Sid. He was tied up and sat on a rock. This was not an unusual situation to find Sid in. Following the shadows and holding an extra tuft of grass for camouflage she snuck over. Unable to untie him there and then she slung him onto her back and carried him off before anyone noticed. After all they were looking for a group of large predators to come in from the open pastures, not a large tuft of grass quietly sneaking in under their feet.

After she felt they were safe she stopped and put Sid down and untied him. She did not need to know the details of why he was in that situation so Peaches ignored the obvious questions and got on the more practical ones. "What shall we do now?"

"We need to go back to the herd, we can still get some playtime in if we're lucky" Sid said rubbing his fur back into some kind of order.

"Which herd?"

"The one where I'm loved and appreciated!" Peach's looked blank. "The mammoth one!" He exploded, and then on a lighter note he said "Oh and I like this grass skirt disguise of yours! Both light and effective!" He quickly knocked himself up one in the interests of not drawing attention to oneself, and they walked on up a long gentle slope to deliver Sid back to the safety of the kid's crash.

All the way Sid insisted on extreme secrecy so they missed Manny walking down hill looking for Sid to rescue.

"Where's the sloth?" Manny asked as he found the ambush site complete with badly hidden mammoths and a gapping great hole where Sid once sat.

Mick woke up from his doze "What's happening? What's happened to the bait? Who lost the bait?"

"Where's my sloth?" Manny asked again.

"Did anyone see what happened to the sloth?" Mick called getting up from his hiding place and abandoning the trap for today, it was a good time to break for lunch anyway.

"Manny we will get you another one I promise, I'm sure you won't even notice the difference" Mick said apologetically, he had not meant to be so callous with Manny's pet without some kind of dead predator to show for it.

"Oh no! Not another one! Really I promised myself I would not replace him!" Manny said rather too quickly "I can't believe _anyone_ would eat him, he must have wandered off." Manny scanned the ground for a clue. "let's see he won't have gone that way for fear of getting clean in the river, nor up for fear of hard work, he must have gone this way" Manny walked out onto the flat valley plains to look for Sid.

"Optimistic to a fault that one" Mick said to no one in particular. "Lets head back boys!"

"Should we go after him after all there could be predators out there" Asked a random mammoth in Mick's group.

"No, he needs time alone to get over his grief for the lost critter, we need to concentrate our efforts on finding another bait, I think that we came close to sorting this problem of ours today and I for one am determined to finish what I've started, after some lunch of course"

Soon enough Diego found a spot with a good view of the grazing herds a safe distance away and sat down. It was time to play 'name that food!'; guess 'the best way to take that food!' and generally just watch and study. But cubs being cubs that lesson did not last long and fighting competitions broke out left right and centre. It really boiled down to who could take down Snowball the undefeated champion, a title won not through skill, just size.

Diego gave up talking over them and decided to doze while they amused themselves, if they were anything like him and Oskar they would go on for hours. He did peek from time to time just to make sure there wasn't a fatality that he should be preventing, but mostly he was distracted by a cub that chose to ignore the games and stare at him instead. This was a bit unnerving to say the least. Maybe she wasn't all there in the head.

"Why you not fighting kid its important rank building skills you're missing out on" He said it but his heart wasn't in it anymore, who honestly cared about who was best or strongest when there was fun to be had, with close friends. Where ever they were.

"I can do that later when there've worn themselves silly"

No!A thinker! She was also the one who went against the crowd yesterday with her food option preferring taste over size and skill level required to catch that prey. This one was trouble. This was the one, and there is always one in every pack who questions their leader, who doubts, and ultimately stabs in the back at the very last minute, always secretly and always out of the blue. She was small and dark with brown spots all over like freckles, stood to reason she would be a thinker. Diego narrowed his eyes at her, just when he thought these kids were hard enough, he would now have to be extra wary. "So, what's on your mind"

"Where is your family?"

"Out of town" This wasn't a total lie; both his natural and adopted family was out of town. One was a bit further out than the other, with no hope of coming back.

"They have been gone a very long time now"

"What's your name kid" He asked._' Keep your enemies close_', that was the first rule of cunning. Know them and try to guess their next move, he was meant to be teaching them this in regards to the prey.

"Breezy"

"Breezy my pack was weak and were bested by humans"

"Was?"

"The good half are now coats and the rest were boring"

"Hmm, that is sad." She thought some more, "Why do you not revenge them?"

"Don't ever..." Diego paused he heard someone approach. He growled menacingly for the cubs to stop and prepare for possible trouble.

Manny had found no trace of Sid, but he did find Diego sitting with his pint sized pack out on the valley.

"Diego, have you seen Sid?"

"No"

"Do you think _they_... could have...?" Manny trailed off. _They_ were the cubs parents and what they might have done did not bear describing too much in case he upset the kids, or was that so not to upset himself. It was all like walking on eggshells around here lately.

"No chance of... '_that_" Diego replied to set Manny at ease. If he hadn't of been quite so tetchy with all the unannounced visitors today asking questions he might have enjoyed teasing Manny on his screamisness on the food subject, but as it was he would just have to hope that the situation would present its self again later."I'm the only one here, did you tell Sid to come back here? Like I asked last night, remember? You said you would tell him to come back"

"I was going to... but," Manny struggled to remember why he didn't "He seemed real upset..."

"I'm real upset look my furs really falling out with all the untold pressure these are putting me under, what's **he** have to be upset about?"

"That's just moult you're exaggerating! Their just kids Diego and I didn't ask what was up with Sid it was late when I got back and then today... I lost him"

"So you didn't give him my message, you didn't ask him what was wrong, losing him has been the only practical thing you've done since I last saw you" Diego snapped unduly offended at Manny's thoughtless remark _'Their just kids'_ he mimed with a stupid voice in his head, _Don't see you jumping in to help..._

"While you've done what?" Manny cut in to Diego's snippy train of thought.

"Notice how clean and fed these guys..." Breezy narrowed her eyes at Diego. Was she invisible? "And girls are?" Diego corrected himself, that cub was really putting him off "What _haven't_ I done today? If it's all so damn _easy then_ where's Peaches?"

"Uh with Ellie back with the herd" Manny said sheepishly, he had really offended Diego with that one hadn't he.

"I bet they are easy when you have a partner to dump them on" Diego growled in a low mumble. He didn't sound like his dad anymore, now he sounded in everything but tone like his mother, how had he come to this?

"Sorry. Look I've got to find Sid I'm worried about him" Manny paused he was also worried about Diego with those mammoth bulls nearby. Now he was torn between protecting his friend with his borrowed family and finding Sid, who deserved all the trouble he found today.

"Your still here" Diego said seeing the indecision on Manny's face. "When you find Sid tell him I need him. If you ever get around to looking that is" That was as good as he could muster to get the mammoth on his way and out of his fur for now.

Manny was still reluctant to go, he wanted everyone back together, it would be a good start if they stayed together now "Can't you help? After all you're the one who's good at tracking?

"You lost him, and I'm kind of tied right now, and anyone can smell that sloth a mile off. Just go get him before he hurts himself"

"I guess, look just be careful, those other mammoths are not like me"

"I know mammoths are all stupid and stubborn headed. Except you of course"

"They are. But these are obsessed with ridding the world of evil"

"I've heard that before, don't worry I've seen it all before" Diego said dismissively.

"Ok" Manny sighed reluctantly and with one backward glance at the cubs play fighting while Diego sat guard over them, left to find that stupid sloth. The sooner he went the sooner he would be done and the herd safe back together.

"So why do you talk to food?" Breezy said to Diego as the mammoth headed off.

"Because...Well why wouldn't you?" Diego replied determined now to shut her up.

"Isn't that a form of madness?"

"Perhaps. But who's to say what's mad and what's not?"

Breezy stopped to think. She liked having an adult's attention all to herself being one of so many this was seldom achievable, but she was not prepared for a philosical debate. How was she going to keep his attention and divert the conversation back to question time? "I don't know. Do you?"

Diego took a long breath and counted to ten "No, it was a rhetorical question"

"What does that mean?"

"That you should shut up and think about it some in silence over there" Diego ushered her off, but was not surprised to find that her legs were not going to respond to being moved.

Breezy got the hint at least and sat quietly just an arm's length away from Diego for as long as she could.

Sid and Peaches returned to the safety of the mammoth herd still wearing their grassy disguises and shuffling along like super stealth ninjas of the plant world. This was a great game to both of them and they had to stop frequently to giggle as they crept sneakily past the unsuspecting mammoths. They even managed to sneak past Ellie unnoticed, despite Sid stopping right by her ankle and poking her several times. Ellie looked bemused at the large smelly clump of unsuspecting grass by her foot. She was sure that someone was poking her, but then she was also sure that that strange weed was following her. Maybe that high speed toboggan ride had knocked something loose in her head. Well it was far too much fun to stop now, so she ignored the weed for the fifth time in ten minutes as the mammoth teens hurried her along to finish perfecting her toboggan car.

Sid and Peaches shuffled on until they reached the cresh of baby mammoths then jumped up to reveal themselves to a whoop of surprise and fascination from all the kids. Ellie looked over at the sound of the kids to see what the fuss was about. In the middle was Sid and Peaches obviously having fun. With Sid found Manny would want to head back soon! She rushed to sand her toboggan to perfection hopefully she would have enough time for one last perfect run blowing the mammoth land speed record to smithereens!

Ten minutes later as many as eight clumps of grass was shuffling about among the mammoth herd throwing pebbles at their unsuspecting parents and giggling helplessly at their own cleverness.

One clump however wandered a bit further off than the rest. Peaches remembered her uncle Diego was still down in the valley and still wanted to know if there was any fun to be had down there. Sid would be occupied now for hours with the other calves and she was ready for a new game. She snuck off leaving the herd and wandered again down the treacherous cliff into the valley below.

Breezy still sat an arm's length away from Diego. She had stayed quiet for a while now and thought it was safe to begin asking a new line of questions, ones which would require less involved answers. "So what is that?" She pointed to a distant herd and hoped she had Diego's attention.

"Those are deer" He answered plainly she was not in his good books. They were always empty.

"Why do they all bunch together like that?"

"They are friends and there is safety in numbers"

Breezy edged a bit closer "Why?"

"Many eyes make watching in all directions all the time easy. When hunting if you ever see a stray animal that is the one you go for, easier to sneak up on one than it is to sneak up on many"

"But you didn't, with the boar the other day"

"I made a mistake"

"Why?"

"Why _what _exactly?"

"Why did you make the mistake, why did you not just wait till another one came along?"

"I wanted to get you guys fed and quick it is dangerous to be out among prey at the best of times. So I took what I thought was a calculated risk that turned out to be a dumb idea"

"Why is it dangerous to be around prey?"

"All prey is armed one way or another. Horns, tusks, hooves all weaponry and all can really hurt if not kill you"

"So why are you friends with prey with tusks?"

Diego shot Breezy a glare, she moved like a snake in the grass sitting back beside him, she worked her way around conversations like a snake too. He didn't have to justify himself to a cub! Well he did if he ever wanted her to shut up on the subject "There are exceptions to every rule kid"

"Wh..." Breezy stopped mid question as a clump of grass shuffled up and a baby mammoth popped out.

All fighting stopped as Snowball zeroed in on Peaches. He whacked all the sabers to quiet them while he listened and formed his first plan.

"Uncle Diego can I spend some time with you?" Peaches asked.

"Where are your parents?"

"Up there, they can all see me (If they cared to look)so it's ok" They were all busy anyway so Peaches guessed that they would not mind if she spent some time with Diego.

"Up there huh?" Diego looked up to see if he could see them. Surly the great comedians that they were they would be laughing right now as he was saddled with yet another stupid kid!

"Uh huh" Peaches hoped that he would not guess that they were not watching so send her back to that boring bunch of mammoths again.

"And he knows your here and is watching" Diego asked again to verify that they were indeed the butt of this particularly bad joke.

"Yes"

"Then let's move that's just creepy"

"Then can I stay?" Peaches asked hopefully

"Sure" _what's another kid! Easy right! _Diego thought as he led them back to where the herd had planned days ago now to meet. "We just need somewhere better to sit, come on kids" Diego got up and led the way with Breezy close behind, he presumed the rest would follow. They couldn't as Snowball had them pinned one way or another.

Peaches paused a moment to wonder if Diego meant that she could come or whether he was being sarcastic. She had a feeling he was not to keen on her. She looked around to see if the other kids minded her being there and met snowball's cold hard glare.

"So we meet again" Snowball growled.

This time she had no parents in her corner.

This time he had a pack. Snowball smiled wickedly, then released the better half of his pack from multiple death grip hold scenarios.

Peaches steeled herself, well she had wanted some excitement, just more on a one to one level "Give it your best shot Snowflake and it had better be good, for your sake"

"Sounds like fighting talk big nose"

"That's because it is fur ball breath, now quit stalling and bring it on already!"

Snowball started to stalk, the saber cubs liked this game and followed suit behind him. Peaches gritted her jaw; she had seen her dad face dinosaurs on the first day she was born. She could face this.

Realising that the stalk was not scaring her Snowball charged and leapt at her. He was a little bigger, three meals heavier and more coordinated than the last time they had fought, and so this time managed to topple her. Together they rolled head over heels, legs kicking furiously at each other. When she could Peaches broke free and ran to put some distance between them both, she needed more swing for her longer legs to be effective weapons where as Snowballs claws worked well in such short range.

She had managed to get a foot or two away when she felt her foot being tripped out from under her and crashed on her chin. As she skidded to a stop she felt Snowball pounce on her back, he had learnt a lot since last they fought, she was caught but she was not giving up!

He had not thought his next move through quick enough and she was too strong for him to hold down alone, now he needed his pack, who were sat down watching.

All this was very entertaining but they were undecided which one was the best to route for. After all they were both different species that were apparently accepted by their current guardian. Best to just watch and wait in these strange situations.

Peaches got up onto her feet, Snowball was a heavy passenger but she was strong, she ran a short distance to get momentum then jumped, somersaulted and landed neatly on her back with Snowball cushioning the fall. There was a great "oomph!" as the air left his lungs and he was squashed beneath her.

"That I believe makes me leader!" she announced when she was sure she had him pinned.

Snowball seethed, "you can't lead you're a stupid girl! And a stupid calf as well! Your nothing but food!"

She pulled herself up, he was right she waited to see what the rest of the pack would do. Could she defeat them all? She would have to. She stood tall and confident while they decided.

Four cubs edged behind her, they were girls, "Girls can lead" said one.

"She did win" Said a boy cub

Peaches noted the lack of concern for gender and species among the majority "I think you're the only one to have a problem with that!" She said to Snowball and turned casually to catch Diego up. The saber cubs followed as that was the logical thing to do, leaving Snowball to wallow in another defeat. He wallowed for a few seconds before he ran to catch up too, if Sid had taught him anything it was that there is no point in wallowing without an audience.

Diego sat down not far from the whale rock meet spot, well he was within ear shot should anyone return, (chance would be a fine thing!) yet out of sight and far enough so to feel independent and busy. Breezy sat beside him and to his surprise and annoyance so did Snowball. What the hell had he done to deserve this?

"I don't like Peaches!" Snowball moaned.

"I don't like kids!" Diego moaned back.

"But why does she have to be here? Send her back!"

"I'd send the lot of you back"

"I like you" Breezy said to Diego but was ignored. Together they watched Peaches re-enact the five second battle and teach the others some defensive moves to keep Snowball from sitting on them.

"It's not fair!" Snowball continued to moan "she can't lead she is a stupid girl and a stupid mammoth, why don't we just eat her?" He looked imploringly at Diego.

Diego now got the gist of the problem, Peaches had challenged Snowball's position and won so now out ranked him, important pack behaviour that she was prepared to embrace to fit in with them. Diego felt a bit touched that she had made such an effort, he kind of missed the respect his rank demanded in his pack. Any respect in the herd was just unheard of and seeing as he made such an effort with every day subjects so to fit in with them he was sad that this etiquette was not returned. At least from time to time, he would have appreciated it. So he sided unexpectedly with Peaches.

"She knows that she is a girl and that she is a mammoth. She also knows that she was alone when she fought you and still bravely stood up for herself. She is also the only one I'm not embraced by, so stop snivelling like some rejected puppy and get over it. When I was young...

"Oh gods!" Wailed Snowball in a tone so very close to Sid's signature whine "that must have been like a century ago and so UN relevant to this! She is food! This is insulting!"

Diego restrained himself from whacking them, he wanted out, now.

Breezy saw an opportunity to help "Why don't you convince her to go away?"

"How?"

"Well it can't be that hard to gross her out, your boy after all. Just play some stupid ball games that will bore her to death in no time at all" Breezy said. She hoped that her advice would get rid of Snowball who she liked because he beat on her three brothers who would usually beat on her, but hated now for needing attention from what was her source.

"Right," Snowball took in this advice, suddenly girls were not so dumb. "Distract her with something boring then strike when she least expects it! That would make me the smartest, strongest and most cunning! I will just wait till I find her weakness. She must have some kind of weak spot under all that hair"

Diego could see nothing good coming from this, did he interrupt it now, or leave them be? After all kids will be kids, this could teach everyone not to dump them on him like this. Then again Manny was prone to over react....he was cut off from finishing that debate as he heard a noise from amoung the boulders.

Diego stood up alert to who was there; another visit no doubt from a herd member come to see him suffer and report back to that immature bunch of...he caught the smell of pigs!

"Run! Now!" He ordered


	9. There are super Sloths too you know

Still don't own

This chap was really hard to write. Esp as spell check and save refuse to work now...anyway hope it still makes enough sence

* * *

"Scatter!" Diego rushed over to face the attacking herd of wild boars giving the cubs time to hide. Peaches caught the urgency in his voice and quickly led three girl cubs behind a boulder where out of sight they somehow scrambled up out of reach from the revenging herd of boars as they swarmed in around them. Diego held off a few from one direction but it was too easy for others to run around him and attack. He could not have guessed how many there were, this kind of attack was totally unheard of.

Snowball had foolishly tried to attack behind Diego and was sent rolling head over tail back to where he had started. He rolled straight into Breezy who sat frozen and scared out in the open where she had been left. Snowball recovered himself and clumsily picked her up by the scruff and half carried, but mostly dragged her up onto a rock where at least they were out of sight.

Diego finally gave up fighting against the boars, for everyone he knocked down another ten could be counted, this was futile. He looked around the chaos to find what cubs had survived. He spotted one cub struggling up a rock, then fall. '_**That** is no way for a saber to go'_ he thought and ran in to fish the cub out from under the stampeding trotters before jumping up to safety on a high boulder.

From there he could see Peaches with three cubs and Snowball safe enough with another, Sid's climbing lessons had today really paid off, that left five non-climbers yet to find. He noticed instantly a load of Boars crowding around something. It had to be a hapless cub in there about to get 'Mexican hat danced' to death by eight pigs ten times it's own size. "Not on my watch!" Diego shouted, this was now a matter of pride "You stay put!" He told the exhausted cub at his feet and jumped back down into the melee. He headed straight for the crowd jumping up over their turned backs and down into their midst, not the wisest move but it got him to the cub in the middle quick. Fortunately with so many pushing against each other the boars had ended up just fighting each other, leaving the cub untouched in the middle of it all. Untouched that is till Diego landed neatly on top of him.

There was silence for a moment then "Ouch!"

Diego breathed a sigh of relief, it was one of the bigger boys and he still seemed to be OK. That could have looked rather stupid but now it would be concidered more daring and heroic! So long as he won that is.

Now the boars had a bigger target to hit they ignored the cub while they attacked Diego. _'Perhaps it was stupid'_ He thought as he got pushed from all angles. With what space he had Diego pushed the cub out under the boars feet so he could scamper away. Peaches waved him over to her and helped pull him up to safety.

By now boars were stampeding after cubs in all directions. Diego struggled against them to get out, it was like swimming against raging tides but he finally made it and began running to the nearest boulder out of this mess. He was so nearly there when from out of nowhere a cub came flying at him with limbs and claws extended and fur on end. He tried to dodge the small ball of flying fury but couldn't, it connected to his leg and stuck there. White pain like lightening shot up his shoulder as the claws dug in tight to him, he ran on still determined to make it out alive. He saw the boulder, he went for the jump and despite the furry and painful anchour scrabbled up to safety.

A few moments later he had unhooked the little varmit and composed himself. "Can anyone see the others?" Diego called accross to the various groups of kids perched on assorted boulders.

"There's my brother!" Breezy called risking being seen.

Diego looked to see a small cub being tossed up on boar's tusks and leapt into action, landing on and whacking the boar that had thrown the cub extra hard as he went, he caught the cub in mid air and jumped gracefully back up to safety. That was more like it in, grab and out with style, he was getting the hang of it. He looked for the last two cubs, he was determined now not to let the boars get any satisfaction from this.

The pigs milled around below scrabbling for ways to get up.

Diego spotted the last two cubs hiding under a boulder. He jumped over to the rock they were hiding under and dropped down to where they cowered. Diego stood with his back to the rock facing the boars with his teeth and claws exposed, _'Ha I win' _he thought and roared menacingly for the pigs to back off, it was over . They did, but only to let a real big, heavy boar through.

Diego sat down,_'Where did they find super pig at this the last minute of the battle?' _he thought, he wasn't giving up, he just needed a new plan. The only one he could think of involved maximum pain to himself. It would have to do "Climb on my back and hold on tight with your claws" he whispered to the cubs behind him. Scared though they were they did and dug their claws in tight to Diego's hide to hold on. Diego tried not to flinch, but could not help taking on a wild desparate look as he stifled a scream

The bigest boar stood in challenge to the single cornered saber "This is pay back for taking one of ours! You will rue the day you challenged us!" he gloated

"Make me!" Diego squeeked as he failed to hold in fully the agony of the claws "...Tasted great by the way" he added to sound more manley.

That was it the boar, with tusks as big as Diego's teeth charged. Diego had to trust that the cubs had a good enough hold for this, it sure as hell felt like they did, he jumped over the oncoming boar, (one thing he can really do well is jump) With the cubs hanging on for all that they were worth Diego flew over the backs of the on looking boars and jumped back up to safety. (some say that the sight of this ginger streek, with fur on end and seemingly two tails, flying at unimagenable speed over adversary to the aid of others became legend. And over years and cultures developed and grew until finally it took on form as the helpful and mythical tails helper to sonic amoung other things)

* * *

An hour later found the pack all sat on different rocks looking at each other. Snowball and Breezy had moved position and now sat higher than anyone else. "So, what now?" Snowball called.

"We wait till they go away of course!" Another cub shouted.

"Don't say that out loud! Now they are going to stick around forever!" Breezy tutted.

"You have to come down from there sometime you stupid cats" A boar shouted.

"We gots all the foods we need with you guys here!" A male cub shouted down.

"Think we'll be staying put thanks!" His brother added. The cub brothers were actually enjoying this.

"So are we!" A boar shouted back.

"Looking forward to tonight, I bet I can take three of you at a time when you can't see easy!" A very small cub shouted down.

"We won't need to wait that long we are going to roll these rocks till you fall off!" A beefy (or porky) looking boar called back and with that ten pigs lined up to dig under the rock with Diego and two cubs on while others pushed at it. The rock wobbled, really easily.

Diego picked up one cub so he only had the pain of one set of claws in his back and jumped over to another platform. The boars followed down below, it was like a scene from tremors as Diego carried them one by one, jump by jump over to a more substantial boulder and set them all down together to wait out the boar attack.

* * *

Elsewhere, Crash ambled along casually with Fleet. They had taken the scenic route over to check in on Ellie and were still a way away. Crash had a stick in his hand and used it to thrash the tall grass and sparse vegetation as they went. He missed Eddie. Fleet was nice and stuff, but she wasn't Eddie. She would be a lot more fun if Eddie was here, then they could use her to enhance their antics, as a getaway car, or perhaps as a supplier of slobber slime to load bombs with.

Earlier he had taught her to chase her tail. That was funny; they both ended up on the floor to giddy to move and were sick. Eddie would have loved that, maybe even made them do it again, that would have been better. After that Crash had tried to teach Fleet the art of practical jokes, for some reason she didn't quite get it, probably he thought because she wasn't as good as him with the pea shooter, it is well known that girls can't aim. Her lack of hands didn't help either so throwing snowballs was defiantly out of the question. She couldn't do most of Crash's favourite things, like he couldn't do any of hers.

Maybe they could just check in on Eddie, not spy, just see if he was getting bored of _her_ yet, maybe help move things along a bit quicker with a few stink bombs. Then Emma would stink and Eddie would remember what he was missing by wasting so much time with her.

"Let's go see Eddie and Emma," Crash said out loud and cringed as he realised the similarity of their stupid names, "See if they are having as great a time as us"

"Sure" Fleet agreed and howled to find out where they were, there was no answering scream from Emma. Fleet pondered what that might mean, trouble? Too far to hear? Occupied? This had never happened before.

"What now?" Crash asked

"I will have to track them down" Fleet started sniffing the ground to find a lead. "They haven't been this way. We need to go back to where we left them last night to pick up a trail"

Crash sighed in irritation they could be anywhere "I thought this would only take a sec"

"You wanted to see your sister so we have been walking this way, we are nearly there" Fleet said

"But I left her up on a cliff top?" Crash said puzzled, '_what is Ellie doing in the middle of nowhere far from the mammoth herd and far from the proper herd? Fleet must be wrong' _he thought.

"You said she smelt like mammoth, I can smell mammoth, so someone is nearby"

Crash fell silent; he could not see any mammoths and boy those were hard to miss. Fleet was losing it; she wasn't the only one... This got Crash thinking thoughts that were not joke or prank related, very foreign ground indeed, especially to him. Ellie had been acting strangely too; subconsciously this had been nagging at him. She had been acting a bit like Manny taking charge, being '_overly'_ worried, arguing with Sid, all _Mannyism_'s. Then there was Eddie. _When has he ever been able to live without me this long? We stick together in everything that we do, we eat, sleep; even pee together so how come..._

From out of nowhere Ellie flew at light speed straight into Crash who lay squashed flat up against the front of her log car held fast by sheer G- force. Fleet was left standing in place watching them both zoom off. Well she had warned Eddie that there were mammoths nearby, and everyone knows that mammoths are big and dangerous, now Fleet would have to add fast to that list. Perhaps mammoths and wolves had more in commomon then she first suspected. Fleet jogged along behind to find out and save Crash, if he had not already become just another squashed snack on the front of that speeding sister of his.

Ten meters later Crash and Ellie came to a stop via crashing into a purpose made snow wall with an almighty whump.

"Hey Crash did you see how fast that was?" Ellie panted with extreme excitement.

"Yep, saw, felt and I think loved how fast that was. Just make sure I didn't break anything before I can confirm that last one" Crash peeled himself off of the nose of Ellie's car and patted himself down for injuries, everything seemed to be present and in its correct place, even his stomach which felt like it had been left way, way behind "Wow that was cool, like being hit by a missile, did you see I was walking along one minute and then bam! flying the next!"

"You want a go?" Ellie teased in a tone which implied she might not share her new game

"You bet!"

"Well come on then time's a wastin'!" Ellie picked herself up and shook off the snow from her fur when she noticed Fleet trot up and stop a few feet away looking eagerly at both herself and Crash. (Now it is not known whether Ellie has only been taught to fear eagles as possible enemies or because wolves always look like they are smiling that put Ellie at ease instantly with the new comer)

"Crash would you look at the cute puppy"

"Ellie this is Fleet, Emma's sister"

"Ooo, new friend huh?" Ellie was about to say something about Fleet not being a possum but felt a bit aware that neither was she "So... is she your new girl friend?"

"Whoa slow down there, Girl yes, friend yes but notice the gapes, the difference they make, why would you want to go gross everything out like that?"

"Oh..." Ellie noticed the rejected look in the wolfs big brown eyes, she quickly dropped that line of conversation "Well it's very nice to meet you I'm Ellie Crash's sister" She held out her trunk to which Fleet gave her paw enthusiastically and they shook.

"I'm Fleet, you like to go fast?"

"You bet, coming for a ride?"

"Yeah, that looked so cool"

"But the other mammoths..." Crash ventured

"Relax" Ellie said "The guys will love her, who can resist those lovely eyes huh? You know other than Manny who has to find something to worry about with anything"

"Well..." Crash knew something could go wrong after all things usually did, but it would be so unfair to miss out on this new game...

Ellie took his pause as definitely not a No "Great! I have missed you guys, so what have you all been up to?"

"Uh you know the usual, hung out, said hello to Diego, had lunch, uh that's it really. How about you, how come you're out here in the middle of nowhere? And alone?" '_Very strange' _Crash thought.

"Well this as you might have gathered is the end of the toboggan run, it starts way up there" Ellie pointed way up a steep cliff face which featured the most elaborate twisty turny ice chute zig zaging randomly all over it. "Everyone is waiting up top"

"Is Eddie back yet?" Crash asked hopefully

"No afraid not, maybe he will turn up later"

"As awesome as that looks, I thought that we were going to get our herd back together today not construct super rides. I told Diego that it was dead boring over here and that we were definitely not having fun without him, so when are we all getting back together?"

"Soon OK, now Jump up we can talk on the way. This is the worst part you got to walk back up to the top with your car" She joked to Fleet as she hoisted up the log car onto her tusks and began walking back to the top of the run.

Crash hopped up onto Ellie's head "How soon is soon?"

"Very soon, we just got distracted... So tell me already what have you and Eddie actually been up too?" Ellie asked innocently, this was not prying this was tactical concern for their welfare.

"Really nothing much, Eddie and Emma wanted to be alone so left us soon after we both left you guys last night"

"Ah!" Ellie understood, things were not going as smoothly as they could, at least not for Crash. Well she was not surprised they had both acted so badly at the thought of her growing up of course this was going to be hard, especially when you were the last one left. "They will miss us soon enough I'm sure"

"Ellie I have this hunch," Crash struggled with his strange thoughts, to put his suspicions into words "I just can't explain it. Nothing seems right anymore like we are all changing but don't know it? Do you know what I mean?" He looked at Ellie hoping that she would understand what he was struggling to get at and maybe even explain it to him.

"Well no, but change is not always so bad, over time sometimes change can be a good thing"

"Really? Like say if one day you're all fine and everything is you know, right, then someone new comes along ..."

"Now Crash I'm sure Eddie misses you too and I can see this is difficult for you right now but before you know it you will find that you have a new friend or maybe sister in law who can share in your antics"

"Ellie **she** is trouble!"

Fleet rolled her eyes; boy was that rich coming from him after those pranks with the pea shooter and snowballs hitting every animal that they happened to race by.

Ellie was thinking along the same lines, Crash calling another possum trouble, whatever.

Crash began to doubt his suspicions, but only a bit.

"Crash you are being unreasonable" Ellie said "I'm sure she is, well just a different kind of trouble, a more feminine trouble than you are used too. But let's face it we need more girls to even things up in the herd, wouldn't you agree Fleet too many guy's spells big trouble!"

"Emma says something like that, right before she loses them"

"She had a few relationships then?" Ellie said suspiciously

"She has made a lot of... friends. But they never last long"

"Good" Crash said, he was back not liking her, and obviously no one else did either.

"Tell me more about her, like how did you both become family" Ellie ventured speaking over her rude brother.

"Well one day I was with my family, I was very young then when along came Emma. She told me that she was going to be my new sister and that she was going to take care of me from now on because my pack had gone to Australia. I don't know why they did that, but Emma is a good sister"

"Possums are like that, like Crashes mum looked after me when my parents uh... Maybe we should check in on Eddie soon, I'm sure he misses us" Ellie couldn't be sure but suddenly this all sounded a bit suspect, she shook herself, '_just stupid ideas creeping into my head, I have got to give Eddie space to grow!"_

"I know make sure he gets over her and soon, get things back to how they should be!" Crash said relieved that Ellie was finally getting it.

"No that's not for us to decide, I mean so that we can meet her properly Crash, she sounds well mysterious. I mean so she has had a few friends so that could mean anything and she just happened to be there for Fleet at the right time so was your Mum for me. We should get to know her better" Ellie said

Crash imagined her coming over and telling him that Eddie had gone to Australia, well that was being silly Eddie would never leave them like that for some girl. Crash had to admit that he just didn't like Emma, he really needed a valid reason for this. Well he would find one.

* * *

Finally they reached the top of the slope. Crash took a good look around, none of their herd was there, just Ellie's new friends. "Where is everybody?" Crash demanded

"What do you mean? We are all here" Ellie answered

"But I don't know any of these guys!"

"Sure you do we hung out yesterday there's Jeremy he remembers you and that's ..."

"I mean **our** herd" Crash feared the worst, that no one needed each other anymore! The end of the herd! The end of his family just him wandering alone in the wilderness...

"Oh!" Ellie was a bit shocked at Crash, this break up with Eddie was really getting to him "Well Manny went looking for Sid, who volunteered to play with the big mammoths earlier, I guess he is back but I haven't seen him yet. Peaches and Sid are playing over there, Ellie pointed absent minded to an empty space while she positioned her toboggan car for another run. The space she indicated too was totally empty save for some clumps of thick grass. One clump seemed to shuffle a bit. Crash blinked and rubbed his eyes, was he going mad? But then Ellie was the one who seemed to think that Peaches was here.

This was far worse than he had ever expected. Manny was not with Ellie, Peaches was nowhere to be seen, Sid wasn't craving attention or screaming in terror (but could still be smelt so was not far off) what was going on? Everyone was changing, ever since Emma had come along nothing was the same. He could not figure out the how and why yet but he now firmly believed that she was not good for him or his herd.

"Ellie I need to get rid of this Emma"

"Crash it has only been one night"

"And all of today"

"Fleet help me out here your sister is a nice girl, isn't she?" Ellie asked

"Nice? She is a possum, you know what they are like"

Ellie did know what they were like, they gave most villains a run for their money in the evil stakes "Crash you haven't been shooting mammals with your pea shooter recently have you?"

"Maybe, but..."

"Well I have just lost all sympathy for you, you're all as bad as each other"

"Probably true, but she..."

"Enough already maybe having to deal with another possum would do you good, teach you a long overdue lesson, make you put down those horrible peashooters, slingshots, berry bombs, rotten eggs and whatever else and behave, because it is not nice to be on the receiving end of someone else's fun games now is it"

"Ellie you should really be taking my side on this"

"I will when I have a bit more to go on, we have to give him a chance. Look when I hear more from Eddie and if it sounds bad I will charge over there myself and sort things out, OK? Oh not that I'm listening in or anything like that. But sound really travels well when you're up on this cliff top and sometimes you just can't help hearing things, all sorts of things, you know"

"So what have you earwi... uh, heard so far?" Crash stooped down all interested

"Well it sounded like a girl screaming '_what could have done this?'_ she sounded upset, I thought at the time I bet one of you put mud in her drink. I was going to march over and remind you guy's about our little talk on 'behaviour that is really not acceptable outside of the herd" then a few other things which didn't make much sence but they sounded uh... calmer at least"

Crash needed to think, the plot was thickening, he needed to piece together the evidence, "Ellie I need to think"

Ellie was stunned, Crash thinking? He was so not the thoughtful type, maybe her words were finally getting through to him! She doubted it.

By now the group of mammoth teens were all gathered and staring at the three of them, especially at Fleet and Ellie's lack of concern for the predator.

Ellie realised her mistake, here she was advising Crash on etiquette and here she was not introducing everyone, she felt a little sheepish "Guy's I would like you to meet Fleet our new friend and of course you know Crash. Fleet this is..."

Jeremy quickly interrupted their new 'guru of fun', as this was indeed strange behaviour to him "Ellie wolves are trouble, we don't usually associate with those, we kind of _deal_ with them"

"Well, where I come from we like everyone and anyone, whatever their species. I think you should too, or at least try." Ellie said, gosh she was really feeling like a font of all motherly advise today.

The mammoth teens shuffled, a bit uncomfortable with this new idea. "We could give this a try" Jeremy said eventually for all of them "After all It doesn't look all that dangerous really"

"Good" Ellie sighed at Jeremy's use of 'it' rather than 'she', teaching acceptance would have to do for today, species equality would have to come later, mammoths were very slow. "Now whose turn was it and what is the time to beat?" She said relieved to get back to some fun

"Well you still have the record of eight minutes, thirty"

Crash looked at the ice chute running wildly down into the valley and lost all thoughts for his concerns for the herd for a moment "Me and Fleet are so going to thrash that!"

"That's the spirit!" Ellie smiled; maybe Crash would be alright letting his brother move on after all. Maybe Eddie would be able to cope with the hazardous world of relationships, the very hazardous world of possum relationships! Maybe everyone in the herd would find love and settle down together, that would be ideal. But for now some distracting game play and space to think was neded things would soon seem clearer. "Let's build you a car"

* * *

Elsewhere Eddie had crashed. He lay fast asleep on the floor in mid search for a place that met all of Emma's needs. He had never been so tired.

Emma poked him with a stick thinking he was dead.

He groaned "not now mum"

She relented and let him sleep.

This new idea of hers of living happily ever after wasn't really working out to be as easy as she had imagined. She didn't enjoy hard work and dragging Eddie around was indeed proving to be hard. She should find someone new to play with. But then Eddie was different, even interesting in that he actually liked 'different' like her, well maybe not **as **different as her he didn't really know her to well... yet. But then could she even live the ideal 'girly' dream? Could she keep her dark past a secret? If she didn't at least try would she ever find another chance of normality again? To dream of waking up to a beautiful family with nothing but house chores to be done ... well that sounded boring now when said like that, but still to kiss good bye to the first bloke that she had met who might possibly accept her. And what if there was more to him that he wasn't telling? After all how did he happen upon an ophened mamoth tot all alone? She may even have found a soul mate, but these games he kept talking about, he sounded so childish. Emma had never been so undecided. She should find Fleet then end this, or at least see how things go till then.

She wandered off so not to wake Eddie with her howling.

* * *

Unable to help to build a toboggan Fleet circled around meeting the other mammoths instead. They all got on well to her surprise. Basically they all enjoyed fun stuff and hated boring things like standing still too long. She liked that they looked so different but were very much the same inside, soon enough she returned to sit by Crash and wait her go on the toboggan run. She looked at the very quiet Crash. The guy had seemed like a bucket of fun last night but turned out to be a bit distracted today. "What are you thinking?" She asked

"Nothing" Crash said. "Fleet, do you think Emma is just bad like me...Or more pure evil?"

Fleet thought hard, this was one of those philosophical questions "Neither, just confused" Fleet liked how Diego had rules about friends and food that were easy to follow, she liked how the two did not mix, "I think that she needs some clear rules to stick to. Help to separate friends from games the two get mixed up far too often, do you have that problem?"

"Well maybe. What kind of games does she like?"

"Mind games"

"Girls are weird, so it's my dirty tricks vs. her mental powers and Eddie is the prize, this is war, who's side are you on?"

"Whoever, you're both nice to me so I can be on either side"

"Be on mine, I think she would use you as a weapon against me and that would be bad news"

"You're not going to hurt her are you; just play your weird possum games together right"

"Yep it's all fun really, if you can't take a joke than that is your own fault"

"One day the joke will be on you" Fleet said copying Ellie a bit.

"We will see about that" Crash paused as he heard a screaming in the distance, "Just maybe the mind games will be on her this time! May the best possum win! Come on it's our turn to ride, then it's war!" Crash checked he had a supply of his favourite arsenal tucked neatly somewhere behind his back, this was going to be all or nothing!

He got into position and Ellie came over to launch them "Did you hear that scream? Maybe we should check on Eddie" she said

"They just want us to get together soon, it would be better if you got the herd back together and safe while we go and say hello" This sounded a bit sinister as Crash gloated a bit.

"There I told you he would miss us soon enough"

"Yeah they won't be missing this" He patted his stash of weaponary stashed secretly away.

"OK? Now remember to lean into the corners to steer and be careful not to leave the track on the third turn where the ice has melted a bit, it's a twenty foot drop from there, ready guy's? Here we go"

Ellie pushed the cart into motion and gave it as much thrust as she could before it hit the polished ice and took off downhill leaving her behind. Crash called back to her "See you later Ellie! And don't worry things will be back to how they should be soon!"

Ellie looked perplexed, what did he mean by that? "Say hi to Eddie for me!" She called after him as he and Fleet shoot down the chute.

* * *

Manny returned eventually to the mammoth herd, he could not for the life of him find Sid. It was very hard; near imposable for him to admit defeat so it was late in the day when he returned with his head low. He found Ellie waving down the ice run with her young friends, she looked like she was having fun. He was so not "I can't find Sid"

Ellie turned from waving Crash good bye to see Manny looking very sorry for himself "He is over there with Peaches and the other kids." Ellie said looking over to where Sid sat amoungst some small rocks and low vegitation.

"I'm going to kill him" Manny said simply and paced over to where Sid sat, frown set firmly in place "Sid, what happened?"

"I got bored playing with your friends so came back here to play with mine. Peaches helped"

Manny looked at the sloth in a grass skirt and headdress with real menace, but got distracted "Peaches helped?"

"Yeah she beat you to it you know saveing me and good thing too because if I had had to wait till now for you well let's just say I'd have died from boredom and starvation ten times over already.

Manny could not focus on what Sid was saying, he could not see Peaches "Where's Peaches?"

"Isn't she with Ellie?"

"No Ellie said she was with you"

"She was. She started this camouflage game useful huh?" Sid swung his hips and delightful skirt around a bit.

"So where is she now?"

"Camouflaged I guess, **if** we were attacked no one would ever find us in disguise!"

Manny's heart dropped _No one would ever find her! _"We have got to find her!"

They looked around the baby mammoths in grassy disguises. On first try there was no Peaches!

They looked all through the herd but no one had seen her. Well of course they hadn't she was disguised! Now it was getting darker.

"When was the last time any of us saw her? Lets retrace our steps from this morning" Ellie said logically she had now joined the search.

"Well I left her with the kids to find Sid" Manny said feeling guilty now for ever taking his eyes off of her, she had not wanted to be left behind.

"After she saved...Uh, I found her I escorted her safely back here to play with the other kids" Sid said

"Found you where Sid?" Ellie asked the key question.

"Just there" Sid pointed. Ellie followed his finger. It pointed off into the horizon.

Manny remembered the other bulls saying that they had lost the bait and guessed Sid meant the ambush site. "How did she get out there?" Manny's voice went up a few pitches.

Ellie still did not understand "So I saw you both not long ago playing here and thought that we would be headed back soon and so tried to get in one last run, I guess that might have turned into many last runs"

"How was it?" Sid asked, he would rather play with kids given the chance but Ellie's game did seem fun

"Great thanks!" Ellie was so pleased that someone was interested in what she had been up to today "You will have to try it! You just can't imagine how fast we got it down to!"

"Wow can I get a go now?"

"No we are looking for Peaches remember?" Manny stated

"We could look over by the slope and then maybe look some more on the way down the slope?" Sid tried desperately to combine the two

"No! Sid I can't even yell at you seriously with that stupid skirt on, just find Peaches then we can **all** play"

"Sure, but she still might be over there by the fun games"

"Sid she... No wait maybe that isn't such a bad idea, after all she wandered down into the valley to find you. Could she have gone looking for the rest of the herd?" Manny said wonderously

"She wasn't with Crash when he dropped by earlier" Ellie said

"And she wasn't with Diego, that leaves Eddie. When did we last see him?"

"Not since he went chasing after his girl friend last night, she probably went that way" Ellie said pointing to the far forested end of the valley where she had last heard Emma screaming from.

"Right!"said Manny, this was a positive start! "Let's get going!" He started to march off with a clear mission in his head and determination set on his brow.

"Uh Manny aren't you forgetting about the quick otherwise known as fun way down?" Sid ventured indicating to a few log toboggan cars sat waiting to be played on.

"Those things? Me!" Manny squeaked.

"For Peaches!" Sid said decisively.

"Let's do this!" Ellie said.

"Ah, you're right, for Peaches!" Manny looked at the wayward chute "Is that safe?"

"Come on Manny just sit in here and I will gently push you off, you will be down before you know it"

"Yep that's the bit I don't like, well how hard can it be?"

"That's the spirit, now hold tight!"

"To what? With what?"

"It's just a figure of speech!" Ellie called after pushing his toboggan car off down the chute. "Wow would you look at that, I think he's going to do it in under three minutes! Why is it that the ones who show zero interest end up being the best competitors?"

"Must be all that extra weight" Said Sid

"I hope so, then I've got a chance of bettering him"

"Going somewhere?" Big Mick noticed them leaving, with his bait.

"Yes our daughter has wandered after her uncle we are going after her"

"Yes a few kids seem to be amiss today well good luck finding her, hope all turns out well," Mick said sympathetically, then in a more sinister voice "hope none of you get eaten what with all the trouble out there and undefeated predators at large..."

"Of course we won't get eaten. Come on Sid your turn"

"Shame about all the dangers facing the kid's today shame there is not enough of us around concerned enough to defend the innocent and make the valley safe for the kids" Mick continued looking at Sid who obviously loved kids.

"Ah I did want to help... and now I don't soo..."

"Oh well, I will scrub out your place at the victory feast then"

"Huh?"

"Sid!" Ellie called

"Ellie wait, a feast you say?"

"Yep a big hero feast in honour of those who go forth tomorrow anticipating victory"

"Sid!"

"Ellie I will catch up"

"Sid not again, not now!"

"Ellie a feast in my honour how often does that actually happen? Really! Don't worry I will catch you guys up right after!"

Ellie gritted her teeth, oh but that sloth was testing, why was Manny never around to deal with him enough lately? "At the meet spot then, you know where that is?"

"Yes already"

"Fine. See you soon then Sid" Ellie followed Manny down leaving Sid to it as Peaches was just a little higher on her priority list at that moment.

* * *

Night descended, still Diego and the kids sat cold and exposed while the pigs patrolled in groups below.

"I'm cold" whined Breezy, "when will they stop?"

"Never!" a pig answered from below.

Diego felt something was needed to take their minds off of their predicament, a new distracting conversation, "So... what are your names then? Seeing as how I can't avoid looking at you I might as well know what to call you"

"Breezy!" said Breezy "and these are my brothers Cai, Lars and Zan" These four stood out as being smaller and darker than the other cubs. Breezy was the most feminine of the group and Lars was the little tyke with a taste for big trouble; he was also the cub to get thrown by the boar.

"Did you get hurt Lars? Diego asked with as much sympathy as he could muster, he had his own wounds to feel sorry for.

"No I can take a knock or two, easy" Little Lars said covering a bruised shoulder with a great amount of sabre pride.

"I'm Isla"

"Lia"

"And Tala we are sisters" Diego recognised these light tan three as Sara's own cubs, they had been first to follow Peaches to safety, forward thinkers with survival at the heart of their goal, no matter how unconventional

"I'm Ari" Said the biggest male cub, the one who liked to challenge snowball a lot

"Aden" Ari's slightly smaller brother.

"And Aida" These three were siblings, two boys and a girl respectively. Aida was very much a tom boy and followed her brothers dutifully into all sorts of trouble.

"I'm peaches!" Peaches introduced herself to the pack that she felt she could call herself a part of; she had earned her place among Sara's girls with her leading skills and among the boys with her defeating of the reigning champion Snowball. The cubs nodded accepence to the young mammoth calf, she was worthy to join them, and indeed today she had proved to be an asset to the pack.

"And I'm Steve" Said Snowball who did not want to be over shadowed by the 'should be food' Peaches.

"Since when?" asked Diego

"Since always" Steve formerly known as Snowball said.

"You let us call you Snowball for weeks"

"Well its better, Steve's so common there has to be a Steve for every blade of grass on earth!"

"Well in that case Steve it is"

"I hope your getting cosy up there!" a boar shouted up to break up the happy family scene by reminding them of their perilous situation.

"Doing just great thanks!" Diego replied sarcastically. It was getting cold and dark and this boulder was rock hard to sit on. He looked around for another option. The boulders plied up a few jumps away to become a part of the sheer cliff face that features so much in this fic. Diego spotted a small ledge a little higher up than their current position. It was small but sported a few weedy shrubs which meant it had a deposit of soft earth cupped there.

"Wait here kids" He said like they had a choice "I'm going to investigate our options" Diego hopped from rock to rock with a trail of pigs chasing him below till he reached said ledge. It was indeed small but the deposit of earth was bigger then expected and soon he had dug a very nice safe den complete with roof to sleep in.

"Lets join him" Peaches said and jumped to the next rock and waited for the others to follow helping them where necessary with an out stretched trunk to catch them. Together they managed all six jumps successfully by shouting encouragements to each other and everyone helping the next.

Diego was impressed by the team work and let them achieve this by themselves, only helping at the last high jump up to the new den.

Inside the earth was soft and the roof made it very warm they curled up together snug with Diego stretched out to block the entrance with his body so no one fell out. With his back to the cold he acted as the perfect draft excluder keeping their body heat in. This was as nice a siege as you could hope for.

The boars however were cold and even angrier outside.

* * *

The wind began to pick up carrying with it the cold promise of snow. Peaches liked this sleeping in a pile; she also enjoyed the hectic life style these guys led. This was a lot more interesting than the safety of the mammoth herd; she loved danger just like her dad. But she also loved her family and missed her parents now that she had a moment to think about it. She wondered if they missed her. She had not meant to be gone this long, it might have been her imagination but she thought she heard her dad's voice distantly calling for her. "Dad?" She called out into the dark night.

Now Diego who was nearly asleep felt guilty he had forgotten that Peaches was not one of them and needed to go home. (Not as easy to forget as one would imagine but certainly possible) He was not about to fight through fifty odd pigs to deliver her safely back with her parents tonight however, she would have to wait. "I'll take you back tomorrow Peaches, just try to sleep now"

* * *

Manny and Ellie had been marching away towards Emma's screams at the forested far end of the valley. Manny set a fast pace it was getting darker by the second he was sure and the tree line was just as distant as it was ten minutes ago. Out of nowhere Manny thought he heard Peaches. Her voice was distant. He was sure he had only heard it in his head but responded anyway, he had imagined it to be coming from near enough behind them. "That's her" Was all he said as explanation to Ellie before running blindly through the dark in the direction that it had come from, this time Ellie could not keep up with his fast pace and had to follow the sound of his thundering footsteps.

* * *

Inside the den the kids slept soundly, Diego however kept waking up. The pigs outside were up to something he could hear them muttering. He dozed off for a bit then woke to hear them scratching at the rocks. He could not roll over to look see what was going on without waking the kids so ignored it, there was no way they were getting up this high anyway so let them try all they want. He dozed off again. This time he was disturbed by drumming noise growing louder and louder outside. It was soon accompanied by an uproar of squeals grunts and other piggy sounds.

"_Ignore them they are just trying to scare us out"_ Diego thought trying to comfort himself as the sounds became wild.

* * *

Manny stomped on blindly through the dark. Obstacles seemed to block his way deterring him from reaching his goal. But when he was determined Manny could break through solid rock to get to where he was going. Doggedly he ploughed on through kicking tripping and stepping on a variety of squealing, snorting grunting bodies. Soon he had kicked injured and seen off every last boar. He stopped to catch his breath after the sheer effort to get to where he wanted to be. _'Must be getting out of shape' _He thought

* * *

Outside all fell silent except for a loud, ragged breathing.

The hairs on Diego neck began to stand on end, the ones beside his Mohican that is. He slowly turned over to see what was going on.

The movement woke Peaches. She listened to the strange eerie breathing sounds from outside the den. It sounded deep and angry. It reminded her of when her Dad had reached the end of his tether trying to explain washing to Sid. "Dad?" She whispered

Manny recovered himself instantly, her voice was coming from just above his head, using his trunk he groped around blindly searching for her

Peaches shuffled to look and see what was happening outside.

Diego was instantly angry, well of course it was going to be Manny, who else sounded like a great big avalanche coming when they ran? Diego yawned widely letting himself relax after getting so 'poised', for possible action, not scared. He near jumped out of his skin however when a furry trunk probed inside his mouth; instinctively he spat out the tentacle like trunk.

Manny's sensitive trunk relayed back to his brain what it found fur, wet, sharps yuk! Short fur, Long mop of hair fur = Peaches bingo! He reached in further winding his trunk around her to pick her up out of the fur pile and lift her down to where he could see she was safe.

"Dad is that really you?" (Remember it is dark she is not blind or stupid!)

"Yes it's me; you really scared us"

Ellie slowed as boars limping in the opposite direction blocked her way too much for her to run any more. She felt really bad for them; they all seemed bashed, bruised and defeated. One was lying on its back a top of a rock like it had been used as a foot ball. She lifted it down and put it back on its feet.

"Stupid mammoths!" was all the thanks she got. She walked on careful not to step on any pigs that were still picking themselves up off of the floor.

Diego looked down with surprise at the boars lying in piles defeated all around and looked at Manny standing in the middle of them all cuddling Peaches. "That was a bit over kill don't you think?" He scolded the Mammoth "They would have just left eventually"

Manny stopped and looked around clearly for the first time since his panic had left him. "Oop's, I don't know my own strength sometimes, they weren't friends of yours were they?"

"I didn't like them in that sense, but still no one deserves that"

"Sorry! I'm sorry" Manny said to some limping pigs as they shuffled off,"but I thought I had lost my kid!".

"That's it Manny!" Ellie said as she finally caught him up "You have got to get a grip, you can't go bulldozing through animals like that!"

"But!"

"No! Every time we go out you have to throw someone around, you need to learn to be more diplomatic, violence should only ever be a last resort! Think about what kind of an impression your setting for Peaches!"

"Yes dear" Said Manny meekly, he didn't mean it he loved throwing enemies around, so long as there was a reason for it why shouldn't he? But Ellie was right he had been blind with fear and these guys had gotten a kicking for it, very unprofessional.

Ellie left her temper off there she was tired of being up on the moral high ground today, she turned her attentions to the promise of cute kittens instead "Hi Diego, Manny told us about your new friends, can't wait to meet them, are they still up?"

"I just got them to go to bed, in the morning you can meet them, unless you guys are going back..."

"No we are staying put" Manny said decisively, Ellie nodded agreement.

"We should all just stay together now" Manny repeated aware that all this separation was going to give him a nervous breakdown; he needed a break from all this responsibility. It would be nice if someone else played dad to the herd so he could for once be carefree.

"So you're **not** going to get Sid and the possums?" Diego said

"Sid?" Manny said aware suddenly that Sid was again missing; he checked he wasn't just sitting on the stupid sloth before rumbling a long low growl of irritation.

"You were looking for him earlier today remember, you did find him right?"

"Yes of course I found him! He was right behind us; I don't know where he got too"

Diego rolled his eyes which looked rather dramatic in the dark. Why was it always down to him to look after Sid? "And where's Crash and Eddie?"

"Out?" Manny said sheepishly as he didn't know, he looked to Ellie to see if she might whisper him the answers but she was giggling to hard under her breath at Manny getting told off. Manny smiled at how stupid this all looked.

Diego didn't notice and went on "You can't go dropping all your old substitute kids just because you've got a real one now, I never thought I would have to lecture you of all people on responsibility Manny"

"Sorry Diego" Manny said in his fake meek voice usually reserved for Ellie.

"Sheesh he's tetchy" whispered Ellie to Manny as they settled down with Peaches curled up safely between them. "I'm sure Sid can take care of himself for just one night what's the big deal?"

"Probably missed us that's all"

"To think I gave up my new winter Olympic regime to come back"

"I heard that! You guys were having a good time, I knew it. After I've sorted out getting everyone else back you can expect no more help from me, you guys are on your own, I don't care anymore"

"I wasn't having a good time" Manny said still in meek mode with a touch of defensive for effect

"You lost Sid! Twice, so you're still bad!"

"You can't compare that to mucking about in the snow all day"

"Bad is bad. Ah now you woke the kids" The den once warm and snug now writhed with unhappy bodies seeking comfort.

"Can you please stop shouting, I'm getting upset!" Ellie dared to joke.

"Let's just leave it all till morning for now guys, good night" Manny said diplomatically silencing everyone so all the kids could sleep.

* * *

Back at the mammoth herd everyone sat around a huge blazing fire courtesy of Sid. All of the logs that went unused earlier were now heaped up into a huge pyre for an extra special dramatic story telling session. Many stories were repeated from the night before so Sid decided to tell his own tale about the creation of what he liked to call 'the Grand Sloths Canyon' (I forgot where i saw it but the original story was a short where Sid takes his cub scouts out and nearly kills them)

Specific events were changed dramatically by Sid for the occasion, so rather than being a random accident on his behalf, it was now an epic tale of bravery as 'super sloth' saved the cub scouts from fiery hell hounds trying to consume them all. A few scenes resembled Bucks own adventures with Rudy epically the 'back and forth' bit where Sid fought the massive three headed brute in the stories finally, but otherwise it was all very original and nowhere near realistic.

When Sid finally, and I mean finally put the fires of hell out once and for all stopping Armageddon and created world peace in its stead, the scarred valley floor was all that remained to mark that the event had ever happened.

Silence was all that remained after the telling of his tale. He had stunned his crowd with his incredible bravery, his lightening wit outsmarting all of hells fury and his awesome re-enactment skills bringing the tale in all its gory detail into the minds and souls of his audience. At least that is what he thought. He wasn't thinking that after ten minutes when the silence was just plain uncomfortable. Sid wished for his own herd back, they would have had a bit of input by now, made the scene a lot less awkward.

Finally Big Mick spoke "No sloth made that, thunder foot the mammoth made it. With one stamp of his foot the earth opened and a pack of fifty thousand cave bears were swallowed up by the ground"

"Cave bears don't go around in packs, they live solitary lives grumbling in caves, Sid the super sloth made it, I should know because I am he! And I was there. I had witnesses too"

"So go get them"

"I can't, I'm not to go within five miles of them, their parents got a restraining order on me, it was totally unfair of course"

"Why am I not surprised Your officially not allowed within five miles of our kids after this, it took ages to find them hidden in every bit of vegetation" Mick growled, how on earth did Manny suffer this annoying little green nuisance?

"Oh yeah, should have told them the game had ended at bed time"

"Still, we can put all of that behind us when you come out of this as a hero for your part in helping to rid all the vulnerable from the blight of the savage carnivores!"

"Yeah but we are going to have a feast in my honour before that, aren't we?"

"No, after."

"After! I'm hungry now"

"It's called the victory feast; it would be called the pre emptive victory feast if we were to have it now. Here have some peanuts"

"Those will not sustain me through any kind of siege. I need a feast"

"Fine, get the melon"

"That is still a snack! I have been known to eat ten of those just to pass the time! I ate fifty in a day once when I wasn't even hungry! I thought guys of your size would know the difference between a morsel and a feast!"

Sid spent the night tied and gagged. This was one tough crowd! He still managed to hum 'All by myself' a few times, 'Simply the best' cos he liked that one and 'Why does it always rain on me' (couldn't think of anything more appropriate) until he was sure that absolutely no one was listening to him anymore.

"_Well"_, he thought as he was gagged, _"Manny had better be a bit quicker to save me tomorrow, because I'm not going to put up with this all day!"_

* * *

There and that was my attempt at a short chap, i hate reading essays so much but there you go.


	10. sweet reunion

Another fine ramble on something I don't own.

* * *

Eddie woke up alone in the woods. Very slowly and very quietly he scanned the surrounding area for Emma. He couldn't believe his luck, he seemed to be alone. He covered his mouth with his paws to keep from shouting with excitement and pulled himself up to quietly tip toe away.

Suddenly there came a deafening scream from behind. Eddie dropped to the floor instinctively playing dead; she wasn't far off, not far enough anyway. He risked taking a peek; there was still no sign of her, he picked himself up and ran like he had never run before. Sure she looked nice, sure she could kiss but there was no excusing that mad domineering, obsessive behaviour! He had to get away and never look back lest she catch him again with that whole 'fem fatale' thing she had going for her.

Eddie ran flat out for a whole ten minutes, jogged for a further two, walked for five more and then crawled as far as he could before climbing a tree and collapsing with exhaustion. (That's what you get for getting others to carry you everywhere, very unfit) Panting hard and eyes blurry with blood rushing to his head; Eddie scanned the forest floor to see if he was being followed. The coast was still mercifully clear, he was safe, for now. He relaxed against the tree trunk to let himself recover for the next mad dash. This was going to get harder, the open valley floor stretched out before him now with his herd and safety far away on the other side. He took a few deep breaths to prepare himself when he spotted a possum on a wolf coming this way.

'_Ahh!'_ he thought and ducked into some leaves until they had passed_. 'Of course she has that wolf to track me, I will never out run that'. _Then he remembered all the litters of children she had planned for them, the years of entrapment_ 'I will run twice as far, at twice the speed and use every bit of cunning I have! I __**will**__ get away!'_

Eddie risked another glimpse to make sure she had indeed passed him by and scampered off zigzagging all over the place to confuse his tracks. He eventually made it back to his sister and his herd by morning.

Fleet lay down, she was tired out. "This is where we have been staying for a few days now, Emma's scent is still strong so she can't be too far off"

"You rest up" Crash replied "I'm going to scout the area for Eddie. If Emma asks tell her I'm not here, OK"

"Sure" Fleet let him get on with it she really didn't understand possum games.

Crash had not gone far when he found evidence of possum tracks. He followed them carefully. There were two sets, one was very strong and the other confused like the owner was being pulled, or maybe dragged along. Then there was a lot of disturbance and an Eddie shaped indentation in some snow. His outline was very clear like a 'CSI' chalk line where he had fallen flat into the snow and stayed still for a while melting the snow out from under him. Crash scratched his chin and thought hard. This was a mystery, where was Eddie? If she had hit him hard to create this 'splat' effect then where was he now? He crouched down to further examine the evidence, but being no good at tracking could pick out nothing more. He looked around for more clues and found lots of Eddie's tracks leading everywhere: back and forth, left, right up and down they went on endlessly, '_Emma must have sent him mad'_, "she'll pay for this!" Crash swore, shaking his fists to the heavens in a most dramatic way.

Fleet slept soundly as Crash carried out his useless investigations. Crash followed some more of Eddie's tracks up into a tree. From here he could see out over the valley, he observed no Eddie there, and all the way back to where Fleet slept. He spotted Emma, she was walking toward Fleet, her hands were balled into fists, her teeth gritted and a mini storm cloud hovered angrily above her head. He crept a little closer to see what he could find out.

Emma stomped over to Fleet and shook her awake "Fleet I lost Eddie; I need you to help me find him"

"Right now?"

"Yes I'm worried something bad has happened to him, I left him right here, then when I got back he was gone"

"But all of your friends tend to disappear"

"I don't mean that kind of gone, I mean the' got away' kind, and just when I was thinking about a new game to play too. Well no one ever gets away, not from me. We have to find him, make him grow up or else..."

Crash could take no more; he swung down on a vine under a hail of bombs going off all around. One of these sounded like a fire work which sent Fleet scampering.

"So it **is** you who is making my brother grow up, well forget about it, it is never going to happen not while I'm around to stop you" Eddie brought forth his slingshot and shot Emma squire in the chest with a puff ball mushroom. She coughed and spluttered as the spores cleared.

"Idiot!" She drew forth her musketeer type sword, very long and pointy, and ran straight for Crash "No one has ever dared challenge me"

Eddie avoided her charge

"I am going to get your brother and live happily ever after"

"I will never let that happen"

"Then I will have to dispose of you first!"

"I'd like to see you try! I have annoyed every type of mammal on this earth, and a few under it, and no one has ever made me come close to even apologizing yet alone stopping me."

"I will, mark my words this is war!" Emma sneered and ran at Crash again.

Crash leapt out of the way and pelted her with yet more bombs.

Emma threw down her sword and grabbed a long bow, she fired at Crash. Crash played dead letting the arrows whizz by over his fallen body. Emma cussed, she needed time to prepare for such a well armed, agile foe attacking with such hostility. She pulled a vine rope tied to a tree and revealed a trap door. "You may have caught me off guard this time, but when we next meet you won't be so lucky" she disappeared down her secret tunnel.

Crash tried to follow but tripped on a hidden wire, which released a tree branch suspended above his head. He ran out of the way as it fell but it rolled after him. He ran and ran till it eventually crashed into a tree and stopped. He stood there puffing hard, he would get his revenge later when Eddie was safe.

* * *

Eddie found Ellie, Manny and Peaches asleep under the nose of the whale shaped rock where they said they would be a night ago. '_They must be waiting for me' _he thought and a sentimental tear welled up in his eye.

Peaches, of course, was already awake and wriggled out from her parents embrace to greet him with an over enthusiastic squeal of "Eddie!"

"Have I ever missed you!" Eddie squealed back and wrapped his arms around her as she wrapped her trunk around him.

Ellie woke up and also squealed "Eddieee!" before running over and hugging both him and Peaches with a mighty trunk, lifting them off of the ground.

Manny looked annoyed at being disturbed so early and huffed as cold air invaded the spot beside him after Ellie had rushed off.

Diego made quick note of the vacated warm spot and jumped down from his elevated den to sit discreetly beside Manny and absorb as much of that warmth as possible. Manny eyed him suspiciously, but was glad to not be the only one not gushing with love over Eddie and his momentary absence.

Eddie's tear over spilled at the family reunion "I'm never going to leave you guys, you're my family, you know that don't you?"

"Like you got a choice" said Ellie a bit over dramatically "We would never let you go"

"We might" Manny muttered to Diego, who chuckled. (Brothers in grump)

Ellie put Eddie and Peaches carefully down, and Peaches unwrapped herself from around Eddie so he could breathe again.

Eddie took a deep breath and wiped his nose across his sleeve.

"So tell us all about it then" Ellie said "How's it going?"

Eddie looked hard at Ellie, didn't she already know? Wasn't she the one stealing all the possum tree homes to stop this relationship in its tracks? Ellie's face was a picture of innocence; she was doing a good job of disguising the fact if she was. Maybe it was Manny. Eddie looked over to the big moody hairball still lying behind Ellie. Sure he acted all tough but he was quietly very sentimental. If he had done it then he wouldn't say a thing, so as not to let on that he in fact loved the possums awesomeness just as much as Ellie. That had to be it! Eddie stared at Manny looking for a clue to confirm this.

Manny wondered why Eddie was staring at him so hard and looked away uncomfortably. That stupid possum was going to be waiting a long time if he thought he was going to get a hug from **this** mammoth. As Manny glanced around for anything to distract him he couldn't help but notice Diego's disapproving glare.

"You dare get all slushy and I will have to slap some sense back into you" Diego whispered. After all it was meant to be them, the men, vs. the cuteness of the girls and the evil of the little misfits (Sid, Eddie and Crash).

"I would never!" Manny could not believe Diego thought he might be getting unduly mushy and countered his accusation by glancing down to a cub that had fallen free from the den and now sat companionably close to Diego. She was followed by another and soon another as they all wanted a piece of the lovely warmth left by Ellie. To Manny it appeared to be proof of Diego going soft, the end of their 'grumpy old men' club.

Diego saw Manny's point and dropped his disapproving look, "Touché, for now" He muttered and shuffled a bit to put some distance between himself and the kids. Maybe given the circumstances these things happened unintentionally. No matter they were still, the men, in the herd and they shuffled in unison to more macho positions.

Eddie wanted to be in the 'big boys' gang', but knew he would be mocked mercilessly for asking. Whatever Manny and Diego had, it was more than just height. It was a kind of sullenness that he could never posses, he sighed in resignation, it was probably a good thing that. But now he had to confess to his lack of girl friend and cowardly retreat and struggled to think of a butch way of phrasing it. "It was horrible!" He gushed in a childish whine, "She wanted us to live together in a house Ellie and have kids and be married and it was all so, so... awful"

Ellie had to wonder what Eddie had suspected from a relationship if he was so opposed to marriage, kids and togetherness "So, ah, is it all over then?"

"I'd say, Ellie she was sooo boring" Eddie whined on mercilessly That's all she is interested in stupid homes and families with loads and loads of babies. Eddie stood there awkwardly when he had finally finished. He was well aware that he was the only singleton in-between two (Mammoth and Saber) happy families and felt he might have to justify his decision a bit more if he wanted everyone to be on his side with this. "And she is bossy and way too rough and she is always dragging me around, look I think she even pulled my arm out of joint" He held up his arm which was a little bit bruised, but not much.

"Well you tried I guess" Ellie said trying to be sympathetic and not to patronising. "I'm sure when you meet the right girl you will want all that too. But for now I'm glad you're back, that was the most time away and we all missed you"

"Humph" Manny muttered, he was about to give his speech on 'If a girl likes you, you should really be grateful', but remembered how far he got with Sid on that and left it to Ellie to handle this. It was probably a lucky escape for the girl anyway considering what Eddie was like.

"Well that's it for me and growing up, I never want to leave you guy's ever. We have everything here fun, adventure, good times... Wait, talking of Crash where is he?"

"Oh he has been so lost without you; I have never seen him so distracted. He was all 'she is so not good enough for my brother!' and marched off with his new friend Fleet to find you"

"He did? I must have uh, just missed him" Eddie cursed how a like Crash looked to Emma. "I guess I better go get him"

"But you only just got back, can't we play first?" Peaches pleaded

"Not without Crash Peaches, I really have to go get him, but then we can play all you like OK? Anyway you have lots of new friends to chill with for now and I will be back soon"

Peaches looked a bit upset at not getting what she wanted.

"Come on Peaches" Ellie cooed "Why don't you show me your new friends? We will see Eddie and Crash later" Ellie lead Peaches back over to Manny and made to resume her favourite spot sitting beside him but found Diego had taken her place. They stared at each other a while, neither wanting to back down till Diego reluctantly gave in.

"Wait up Ed I've got to go get Sid, seeing as no one else seems remotely capable of being responsible around here anymore" He shot another look in Manny's direction." I'll walk with you some of the way" He stalked off after the possum.

"I can go" Manny offered half-hearted as Ellie sat back down beside him. It was still very early and he had had a very late night he still needed to recover from.

"Yeah right, with your track record, No. You two just stay here and play with the kids, this has gone on long enough already" Diego said as he went to leave, "Don't lose any of my kids while I'm gone" He said looking back at Manny, "Or break any of them" He glanced at Ellie.

"We won't" Ellie replied dryly, and decided against any of her more physical games to entertain the kids with.

Diego walked a few more steps then looked back again. No one had moved an inch; they just stared after him and Eddie, hoping they would leave already.

"Come on Diego today already" Eddie said impatiently, Diego was meant to be saving him time and energy with a lift, not holding him up.

Diego tried again, but could not let the cubs that he had now fought so hard for out of his sight "Wait" He called to Eddie to stop," I will get Sid then Crash if you will look after the kids and Manny, especially Manny, while I'm gone"

"If you get Crash then Sid we have a deal"

"Sid is far more hopeless on his own, he has to come first"

"No you don't understand this girl is crazy, Crash needs to be got safe first"

"Fine, you look after the cubs and..."

"Wait, I know that look, you're going to get Sid first hoping I will never know"

"But then Sid can help you here, while I concentrate all my efforts on saving Crash. If she is as crazy as you then it might take a while and Manny is hard work lately, so it's a good plan"

"Crash first or I go myself, just give me lift for some of the way"

"Fine then I'm taking the kids with me and we are going to be that much slower, probably slower than me doing it all my way"

"So be it, but I'm not walking all that way and Sid is not coming before Crash ever"

They glared at each other determined not to back down.

Diego called back to the cubs "Everyone with me! Now! Including you!" He motioned to Peaches who excited at the prospect of adventure tripped over her own feet to catch up.

"Oh come on we can be trusted with our own kid" Manny shouted.

"No you can't" Diego corrected and turned again to go feeling much better with this decision. Eddie hopped up onto his shoulder relived for the rest and to finally get going.

"Should we not go too?" Ellie wondered out loud.

"What, and miss this opportunity to be alone?" Manny said having found a good side to this situation. "It has been ages since we've been in a total kid free situation, let's make the most of it"

"Well, you do make that sound very tempting"

* * *

Breezy walked beside Diego with Peaches."Where are we going?" she began, when there was an almighty "Oomph" as Peaches fell on her chin beside her. Diego looked around at Steve giggling, that trip trick worked every time! There was another "bumph" As Ari tripped Steve and a lot more giggling was heard. Diego tried to ignore the whacks, thumps and crashes that followed as revenge attacks and all manner of fights broke out in the train of kids behind.

"Manny won't be too happy with your kids playing so rough with Peaches" Eddie said.

"Every one stop fighting and walk quietly, the stupid possum does not like any play" Diego shouted back. Everything fell silent, "wow, that was easy"

"No" Eddie replied looking back "They are just fighting so hard that they have fallen way behind and you can't hear them anymore"

Diego looked back, even Breezy was fighting. This wasn't ever going to work. "Fine I'll leave them with Manny" They all headed back.

Manny and Ellie were enjoying a little hug when Peaches came bouncing back with her friends and they were forced to quickly pretend nothing was going on.

"Change of plan" Diego announced oblivious to the mammoths "Peaches is in charge. I will go get Sid with Steve, so there is no fighting and we will all be back soon. See ya"

"And me?" Breezy called

"No you can stay here and talk to Manny, he is actually better at the pointless moodiness thing than me so you will like him. Also he needs someone reminding him of how wrong he is all the time so knock yourself out."

Steve poked his tongue out at Peaches for being out of the mission. Peaches glared back determined not to be out for long.

Breezy also looked a bit put out at being left behind but brightened up when she saw how angry Manny was. He looked like he needed her company, so she sat beside him and began her line of constant questioning "So what is it like being food?"

Five seconds later Manny almost threw her after Diego.

"The food said I really should stick with you"

"Fine just stay quiet"

* * *

"Good he's gone" Manny said when he was sure Diego was beyond turning back again.

"Can't we go and help dad?" Peaches pleaded, she couldn't believe she was being excluded from another outing

"Not not this time, they have issues that go way deeper than we really need to know" Manny replied.

"And we have so much of our own fun to get through" Ellie chimed delighted. "Let's play 'Mr. Wolf'! It has been for ever since I last played that one"

"Mr. what" the kids all responded at the out dated game.

"What? None of you know that one? Well I will have to teach you then"

Manny listened to the rules and as always found something to worry about "How about a nice quiet game? Like tidily-winks or sleeping lions? Something that doesn't involve everyone running around and getting lost"

"Boring" said Ellie and Peaches together.

"You're in charge Hon, so what would you and your friends like to do?" Ellie asked.

"Follow the leader and I'm first" Peaches said and begun a complicated routine of line dance manoeuvres hoping to bore her parents into going to save Sid "Dad you have to play as well"

"No Dad will just watch and make sure we don't lose anyone" Everyone glared at him "Fine I guess I can play a bit. But we are to stay here so stop side stepping out after Diego!"

Peaches cussed, she was figured out already. She stopped drifting off after Diego with everyone following lead and thought hard for a new plan.

* * *

"Well this is my stop" Eddie announced. "Good luck with Sid, he is pretty upset with you you know"

"Yeah well, good luck with your brother and too bad with that girl thing"

"Well I'm not really that bothered; I mean I was never going to fall for the first girl I met on a desperate whim. I am going to wait for the right girl to come along and then make my move"

"Yeah like me...and Sid I guess"

"Ah, like you guy's?... Maybe I'm being a bit hasty, I mean she can kiss and she don't look half bad and now that I concider the alternatives" Eddie scampered off putting as much distance between himself and Diego as possible.

* * *

Peaches thought of a plan, it wasn't complicated, she whispered to Isla "I need you guys to distract my parents"

"Why?"

"Because I need to help rescue my uncle Sid. I've done it before and know that he can be a handful lately"

"Sounds dangerous this Sid, what can we do to help?"

"I need you to keep distracting my parents so I can disappear a while unnoticed, it won't be easy"

"We can handle it" Isla said confidently, after all food was dumb. "We can play tag, with all these boulders to hide behind they won't know where you are"

"Yeah leave this to us" Ari added eager to lead this mission, "We will have them running around confused for ages, they will never know you're gone"

Manny noticed Peaches latest game, "Now I can't count how many cubs there are" He moaned as a few too many dashed after Peaches between some boulders and out of sight "That's not the same as saying they look the same" He quickly pointed out to Ellie, "So it's not spiciest. I just like to know we have them all that's all"

"I think you're worrying too much" Ellie sighed

"Believe me I'm not, now help me count!"

"If it will make you feel better. You count that way and I will count these"

"I have three, how about you?"

"I have two, wait there's another, now how many is that?"

"Not enough"

"Well how many should we have?"

"A lot more. Do you think Diego's going to be much longer?" Manny said looking desperately to Ellie.

"Honestly?" Ellie sighed again, "Oh come on just try to relax and enjoy yourself for once, all this worried concern all of the time isn't good for you"

"You're right" Manny took on a commanding voice to sort this out once and for all "Now stand still all of you, is there anyone missing?"

"Relax" Ellie said again "I just counted twelve"

"So, did we gain two? No Diego took Two so we would have gained four!"

"Manny we have more than enough! So loosen up already"

"It's working!" Ari confirmed, now it was time for stage two "Peaches tag your Mum, we need to get them separated, then you can disappear while we will do the rest"

Peaches snuck up behind Ellie, **'tag'** you're 'it' mum!" She giggled and raced away.

"Oh I'm so not! Come here!" Ellie ran in after Peaches

"You are it and you can't take it!" Ellie was taunted by horrible little voices from all around.

"You guys are so in for it now, I'm going to tag all of you, I own this game!"

"Ellie! No! Don't get separated from me!" Manny called desperately after her.

I Have to tag someone first! It's bad juju otherwise!

"No Ellie, you're falling into their trap"

"They're just kids Manny! And I never lose!"

"Peaches make them and your mum stop! Where are you Peaches? Ellie? Where is anyone?" Manny stood alone talking to himself

"Now while your Dad's looking away!" Ari said.

Peaches disappeared after Diego, sure her last adventure took a bit longer than expected but she had done this before and knew what she was doing so this was different. She would be back before anyone noticed she was gone, self assured she tiptoed off, in the wrong direction.

* * *

Soon enough Diego found Sid's smell and followed it to the source. Sid was being used as bate in the most obvious trap Diego had ever seen. He couldn't be sure how many mammoths were guarding him, but was sure that they had to be quite simple as Sid smelt less appetising than most carrion.

"Steve I'm going to need you to go over there and get Sid"

Steve looked over at Sid; he was sat ten meters away at the back of an enclosure made up of rocks and trees. It seemed easy enough to walk over to him but why were they all crouched down and whispering? He felt sure Diego would brief him fully on everything he needed to know; maybe they were just being extra cautious. "OK"

"You're going to have to use **all** your powers of cute like before to convince him to come back, don't take it personally, he's just stubborn like that"

"I know" '_So this is the hard part',_ he thought '_Sid doesn't want to come back'_

Diego looked hard at Steve, could he pull this off? Was he still cute? He was a bit dirty. "Now understand I never wanted to have to do this, but I'm going to have to clean you up" They both grimaced. "Hold still"

Once done, Steve looked very white and his nose extra pink.

"Now curl your paw when you talk" Diego advised the cub "Do the big sparkly eyes thing and if he still won't come, lick him right on the nose, or cheek, or both, that will win him over for sure"

"Got it"

"Off you go then"

Steve marched out in a straight line over to Sid. He was fine while he walked over the snowy patches, but stood out like a walking snowball on the green otherwise. Diego watched for any movement.

"Why have you made him go? That looks like a trap to me" Breezy asked unsure if she would do or order that herself.

"He is scouting it out" Diego said, he could tell she was not at all happy with this "I will get him if anything happens" he added in a childish tone, as if he would be that mean.

Sid watched his cub approach, frantically he tried to wriggle to tell him it was a trap, to shoo him away. All this looked like he was having a fit.

'_He is just being stubborn, he still loves me',_ Steve remembered, so continued on. _'What if he has forgotten who I am?' _Steve suddenly thought_. 'He must be real scared cos I look like a real lion now, I will lick him, then he will remember' _

* * *

What do we do now? Stampede the little cub? A random mammoth I shall call Giles asked Mick. The mammoths had been waiting for hours for anything to investigate their cunning trap, so although disapointing, this cub was at least something of a result.

Mick replied,"Hold your ground lads, I'm sure the big game is yet to come"

* * *

Steve stood right beside Sid, he held his paw neatly curled round up and looked at Sid with big wet twinkly eyes.

Sid stared side to side, thank goodness no one was attacking but his Snowball was in danger! Why was Diego not taking better care of him? Sid tried to motion to shoo him away again and mumbled some more indistinguishable nonsense through the gag.

Steve, ignoring Sid's nonsence, stood up using Sid's shoulder for support and licked him right on the nose. He then waited for his foster parent to hopefully remember him.

"Nu ot to et owto ere" Sid mumbled

This sounded nothing like 'wow did I miss you'. Steve was not sure what to do next he looked back to Diego in hope that he might shout another suggestion. Could they not just drag Sid back and make him want them again? after all what was the point of having all these teeth and claws if you couldn't use them to make people do what you wanted? ~after the cute act had been tried of course.

Diego cussed a bit, why was Steve not breaking the ropes? He thought seriously about sending Breezy in, she could up the cute factor and she was smart enough to untie Sid. He felt too guilty.

"Wait here. If anything goes wrong, like me getting trampled to a pulp then I want you to run back and tell Manny..."

"Manny is the big food we don't eat right, do they all have names? Only there is a lot of them" She rushed in after having been silent for so long.

"Enough already, Manny is the big fat one. Just tell him I died doing his job. Make sure he feels really bad then he will take care of you lot till your parents return"

"Are you really going to get trampled?"

"I doubt it, but you never know" Diego casually walked over into the trap.

* * *

"There I told you the rest would appear, patience lads their might be the rest of the pack yet to come" Mick whispered confidently.

"What if those two eat the bait?" Giles asked

"We can hope lads, we can hope"

* * *

Diego walked slowly waiting for anything to happen. There was nothing, only some rustling and maybe a whisper. He relaxed, the mammoths were holding their ground for now, so long as he didn't make any sudden moves they would wait poised. He sat down pretending to be unaware of them and snapped Sid's gag with a claw. Still nothing happened. It was just as he suspected, mammoths were greedy beggars and would always hope for more to come.

Sid gasped "IT'S A TRAP!" his voice echoed around the valley.

"No it's not" Diego said very calmly when it had all quietened down again.

"Yes it is" Sid said very matter of fact and hysterically loud

"No it's not" Diego said in a low firm growl. "Now you're scaring Steve"

"Oh sorry Snow...Steve? I'm gone five minutes and you rename my Snowball!"

"Steve" Diego corrected "That's his name, I don't like it either but at least I don't feel so stupid saying it"

"You hate my choice in names! Well despite the lack of nasty traps around here maybe you guy's wouldn't mind moving along anyway, I'm kind 'a busy you know"

"What are you doing Sid? Your all tied up..." Steve started before Diego shushed him.

"We need to talk Sid and then we will go"

"Now's a bad time, because of being in the middle of a trap, as well as personal stuff"

Diego continued to talk calm "Personal stuff? Like what?"

"You know respect issues, stolen family grief, not being needed by anyone yet again, that kind of stuff"

"And you get respect and all that over there with your new friends?"

"I might do"

"Really" Diego looked at Sid's vine ropes; they were tied by someone who was clearly very angry at the time.

"Uh..." Sid looked at the tight knots too "I guess things could be better, but isn't that the case where ever these days" He threw his head back looking away dramatically.

"Oh" Diego realised he was going to have to work a bit harder than he had expected. "Well things haven't been the same since, you know, you..."

"Haven't been the same how?"

"Things haven't been so... great... since..."

"Haven't they? Really? You never said"

"Never got the chance, I've been kind of busy"

"Yeah I heard about that. I heard you had expanded 'your' family and stuff and were having a great time, I heard things were going really well for you without me"

"No, you know I hate kids. It's been hell"

"Explains why you look like hell, you could have tried brushing your hair this week"

"Really? After what I've been though that is the last thing on my mind, anyway look at you..."

"Ah, getting off subject there, if you want to convince me to come back anytime soon then you better get right back to the begging and pleeding"

"Right... Sid I'm... sorry I helped. I ruined your whole parent adventure thing"

"I know and how did you ruin it?"

"Made it my nightmare"

"Right again. You came barging in with your strict rules and rigorous lessons and took over, stomped all over my...

"Yeah OK I get it, so I'm not even going to try to help anymore I will just leave you too..."

"You were worse than Manny..."

"Alright already I said I quit, stop going on about it. I'm sorry now come back and look after these stupid kids"

"Well... I guess things weren't _so_ bad" Sid contemplated his options and decided he still didn't feel appreciated enough "But they could have been a lot better, so no"

"No? I said sorry now come back"

"No"

"Why not?"

"There is no way you will ever let me do things my way. You still think that you know best and will keep interfering"

"I won't"

"How do I know that? My methods are pretty unique to the untrained eye"

"I can stay, fifty miles away"

"Not good enough, you have to change"

"No"

"There you see"

"OK then, how?"

"You have to be fully supportive of all my decisions on how I want to bring them up"

"OK"

"I want to bring them up vegetarian like me"

Diego grimaced, but thought _"It should be _o_nly one more day that that I have Sara's kids for and handing them back hungry would be great, so it's just Steve here who is really going to suffer with this and I can live with_ _that' _

Sid waited patiently for an answer knowing Diego was thinking of a way around this somehow, he would have to demand a bit more to keep him in line if he agreed, after all it was about time he made life challenging for him again.

"Fine, but..."

"And you have to be vegetarian too, like me"

"Ah, I can't"

"Can't or wont?"

"Both, I mean it's physically impossable"

"Then I will just stay put then thanks, it's all or nothing in this relationship and life with my mammoth vegetarian kids is just great right now"

"Haven't you been banned for interfering yet?" Diego sighed deeply irritated that this was going on so long.

"There you go, doubting my parenting skills, again"

"Yes he has!" Giles the random Mammoth said from his random hiding place.

Both Sid and Diego ignored him.

"Then can't the just the kids suffer?"

"No. I have to know that you're going to support me properly this time. You're going to have to prove to me that you mean it"

"..."

Sid saw that he needed a little room for compromise on this, after all he did want his herd back. "Look, I will look after your kids..."

"They are not..."

"Whatever, I am doing you a big favour here"

"But you like kids!"

"Sure I do, but I would still be helping you"

"I have only got them at all because of you. Where do you think all that milk came from? So they are your kids, all of them, so go and look after them, **now!**"

* * *

"The saber is getting angry at the bait" Giles cautioned Mick who he felt was waiting too long. "So there is only one sabre, it is still the dangerous one with the ginger stripe. Shall we close in and get him?" Giles suggested trying to egg Mick on.

"Let's see what happens" Mick said captivated by the whole scenario. "These predators don't behave at all like I expected. Perhaps there's a lot we need to learn"

* * *

Diego was fed up arguing. Steve had fallen asleep. It wasn't as if Sid could watch him day and night anyway, so he would do like he has always done and sneak off at night to eat, big deal. He would have the last laugh ultimately when Sid saw he was wrong and Steve got sick on a diet of love and leaves.

"OK fine, I will do it, so long as I don't have anything more to do with any kids what so ever as long as I live"

Now Sid thought hard, he would have to keep watch and make sure, but now he could at last be the parent he always wanted to be "OK, I will come back with you guys"

Diego snapped a vine holding Sid tied with a claw and Sid wiggled out of his ties and brushing his fur out again "Ah look, the little guys fallen asleep, must be all the excitement of me coming back" he knelt to pick Steve up "Oh boy has he grown" Sid gasped as he struggled to pick Steve up, he heard his back crunch, and stumbled as he carried him.

Diego really wanted to get back today so stopped to let Sid jump up for a ride back. Sid did not need to be asked he just climbed aboard automatically

* * *

"Is that the way they usually carry their prey off?" Giles asked confused

"I'm not at all sure; maybe he wants to keep it fresh" Mick replied.

"Fresh? They don't come any fresher than that stinker! Why are we letting them go?"

"Because we are too bewildered to do anything but let them go!" Mick snapped. He needed a plan, so quickly devised a very cunning one "We will follow him back to the lair! That's it! Then we will get him and the rest! Come on lads, real sneaky like!" They all prepared to follow the saber.

* * *

Diego paused where he had left Breezy "Oi, we're going"

Breezy had also started to doze while waiting for the rescue to ever finish and wobbled sleepily out.

"Is that it?" Sid reached down and scooped her up. "You know" Sid said as Diego walked them back "The way Manny was going on I thought you had hundreds"

"I do, I left the rest with Manny"

"I really wouldn't want to trust Manny with my kids..."

"I know. I didn't, Peaches is in charge"

Oh, that's ok then. Now I'm not saying that he is a bad parent or anything!

"I know"

"I just wouldn't leave him with any kid of mine"

"Ditto" (Ghost fluff)

No one noticed the line of mammoths tiptoeing behind.

* * *

Mean while the cubs were losing to Ellie, even their ability to look identical and cheat was failing against her skill. They needed a new course of action and fast if they were going to cover for Peaches as promised. Ari got a plan, it wasn't subtle, "We will handle the big one while you girls get the other"

The cubs separated into teams.

"Ellie help they've got me surrounded" Manny yelped as a gang of serious looking tykes approached him in a very non-playful, nor cute kind of way.

"You're exaggerating!" Ellie called back "They're kids Manny, just try and have fun with them" She reached to tag a cub but missed for the umpteenth time and cussed beneath her breath. This was so hard what with them being so short!

"I'm scared, can't you help?" Manny's frightened voice called back.

In a minute! Right after I tag... Ellie tripped over a well concealed cub and fell, other cubs leapt on top of her carrying vines in their mouths. Soon she was tied tight.

Mean while the boy cubs surrounded Manny and advanced prowling forwards on him, Manny had said that he wouldn't hurt or break them but they were acting very professionally, they were not being fair. He was soon up against a wall "Nice kids, now go back over there and play hide and seek, I will shut my eyes and count to ten..."

The girl cubs having secured Ellie jumped (Thanks to Peaches showing them how to get up) from a boulder onto Manny's back trailing vines trailing behind them. They threw the vines down to the boys who whizzed around Manny's legs tangling him up completely.

"We win!" Ari said triumphantly as he sat on top of the fallen Manny .The other cubs were dragging Ellie, the lighter one, over to where he sat.

"We were playing tag" Ellie stated.

"Were we?" Ari said in a tone that matched his father's (Or Soto's) sly manner.

"Who's paranoid now?" Manny asked Ellie, to empathises how right he was "See I told you not to get separated, but no"

"Alright already" Ellie sighed "where is Peaches?"

She went to help save Sid Cai stated to a hail of 'tutts' from the other cubs

Don't tell them that it was meant to be a secret Isla scolded him.

"No it wasn't"

"Yes it was, we were meant to distract them while she went"

We did! Now they can't stop her, we win! No one ever said that we had to keep the plan secret Cai said adamantly.

"That's right" Cai's brother Zan agreed. "Still it sounds a bit cheesy giving away our mission like that"

"Who cares when we won?"

"Yeah we are soooo good!" Aida sung as she twirled around excited at winning "Mission accomplished with loads of time to spare! we are the best!"

"So what shall we do now?" Tala asked

"We could play Bouncy castles again" Lars suggested, that had been fun last time Manny visited.

Manny winced at the memory.

"Let's make them tell us stories!" Tala suggested

"No let's bury them!" Cai counter suggested

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"It would take all week is why not you stupid boy. Let's make them tell us stories"

"While we dig"

"And we bounce!" Lars said

"No, we have got to stop Peaches you don't understand" Manny begged.

"We promised and she is sort of like the leader" Ari said from his seat on Manny's back."Sorry"

"She is with Diego and he will look after her I'm sure" Ellie said to reassure Manny yet again.

Manny struggled against his bonds but he was going nowhere. "I guess, but who will look after us?"

* * *

Peaches didn't know where she was. She was scared. There was a strange scent around her and the ground felt funny under her feet. She wiped away the snow a bit. It wasn't ground at all but wispy branches and twigs covering over a very deep chasm. (A man made pit trap) She was too small to fall through but tiptoed carefully back to terra firma to be safe. This was not the right way. She would have to double back to where her dad was and start again when she got her sense of direction back. There was a rustle from some foliage beside her. She waited, then wished she hadn't. Four big saber toothed tigers stepped out towards her.

* * *

to be continued...

Sorry for a few errors but my pc is still mucking me around.


	11. Peaches the saber proof mammoth

Don't own...

* * *

Peaches was scared.

She was lost and had just avoided falling into a pit which had been cleverly concealed with a thin layer of branches and snow. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, four hungry saber toothed tigers appeared and began to advance on her.

"Well look what we have here, a lost baby" Dave, the leader, crooned in his best baddy voice. It was a very professional baddy voice indeed, except he was still a bit high on cat nip so sounded a bit cheesier than he had really wanted.

"Need some help little one?" Sara said... unconvincingly

"Perhaps you would like to come and play with our cubs" Tammy said giggling at the evilness of her own joke.

Peaches was too scared to say anything in reply so just backed away from them, they meant her harm she could tell. She needed a plan and soon, she thought hard. Was that covered chasm as deep as she thought? It would have to do, at least it would distract them while she thought of another way out. She screwed up all the courage she could muster.

"I have just come from playing with your kids actually" She said as bravely as she could. "I beat them at tag easy"

"Well maybe you should challenge us to a game then we can see how good you really are" Sara sneered angry that such a pup should talk back.

"But it's four against one; you would have to count to twenty first to be fair" Peaches said trying to buy herself some time.

"Sure" Tammy giggled "we will give you a head start, makes the game all the more fun!"

"Sit down and close your eyes so I know you're for real!"

"Funny kid, sure we will, time starts now!" Dave said and made a great show of complying with her needs; this was an unusual hunt but a hunt all the same so he tried to act with some etiquette. He made sure his ladies did too as he did not want them getting away with his meal while he counted. "Twenty, nineteen," he began the count down.

Peaches scampered back to where the false floor lay under the snow. She didn't need that much time just enough to find a safe way across; hopefully when the sabers chased after her they would go crashing through into the pit below.

"Eighteen, seventeen"

Peaches breathed in real deep and carefully stepped out onto the branches feeling for the stronger limbs to place her weight on. She hopped that the sabers really were covering their eyes so not to see her picking out a path over this trap.

"Fifteen" Dave was used to playing with his own kids and knew where and when you could sneak a cheat or two in "eight, seven" Peaches didn't notice such was her concentration. The sabers giggled but kept their eyes covered.

"Three, two, one!" Dave quickly finished and opened his eyes; he spotted Peaches straight away and leapt after her. Over eager and very hungry Tammy and Jess followed hot on his heels with Sara taking the rear.

Peaches heard them coming, she was still balancing over the pit, it was far bigger than she had guessed. She tried hard to quicken her pace but realised they were gaining on her far too quickly. She could not get over the trap in time, she would have to dodge and hope they didn't take her down with them. Peaches remembered when ever Steve pounced on her; which was too often, he always changed the rhythm of his pace right before he jumped. Once up, changing where you land is very hard, this was when she had to dodge, it was her best chance. She listened hard for the change in pace signalling her pursuers were too close and tried to get the best footing on the branches she possibly could to roll out of the way. She tested a good solid branch but found her back legs just fell through to dangle into the chasm below. This false floor was far flimsier than she thought and she began to struggle to get back up.

The sabers mistook her movements as a panicked stumble. Dave was close enough now to pounce so launched himself for a good jump putting himself in front of his smaller, faster ladies to the catch.

Tam and Jess weren't having any of that and sped up.

As soon as she heard Dave pounce Peaches acted fast rolling backwards head over heels over the strong branches she had already crossed. She shut her eyes in case this didn't work, her legs naturally pulled up free from the branches and she soon heard Dave whoosh over head and crash though the false floor into the pit below. Tam and Jen were a bit more nimble and tried hard to stop. They were too late for that however and just ended up tripping over the backwards rolling Peaches and followed Dave down into the pit.

Sara who was at the rear of the chase watched as her pack mysteriously disappeared and stopped running after them. As she stood there looking puzzled she noticed the calf rolling back towards her. She lifted a paw and stopped Peaches in her tracks holding her down easily while she figured out what had happened to her pack. Peaches shook with fear under the weight of the sabers grip; she wasn't going to get out of this too easily.

"Sara, we are stuck" Dave shouted up as he realised he, Tammy and Jess were indeed trapped in a hole.

"You shouldn't have been so hasty" Sara shouted down to them. "Ever heard of look before you leap?"

"Sara, get us out!" Dave snapped angry at having been tricked by a kid.

"I can't, you have to get your selves out" Sara replied

"I'm the leader and I'm ordering you to get us out!"

"No, the 'survival of the fittest' law comes first; you would never live it down if I helped"

"But no one would know that you helped" Tammy whined.

"I would and I would be full of shame" Sara snapped back

"But you have to help them they are your family!" Peaches said forgetting her fear as she was quite outraged at this dreadful, very non herd attitude.

"No kid, they are dead to me now; well I will give them another ten minutes because I don't think they have _really_ tried, but then..."

"I could help them!" Peaches said bravely

"You're just a little kid, how could you help?" Sara sighed "Pull 'em out with that daft nose of yours?"

Peaches was not about to be so easily insulted, she looked around "I could push some of those braches covering the hole down into the pit and they could climb out"

"Let her do it Sara or else you will have to bring up all the cubs on your own!" Dave shouted

Sara didn't need long to consider this "Go and do it then kid" She said defeated.

"Wait, then will you let me go?" Peaches quickly added

"Sure, of course we will" Sara lied

Peaches did not trust any of these sabers very much so only used very weak branches to lower into the pit. Many little weak branches would make the escape a lot harder for them and buy her some time to devise a new plan. Just then Peaches heard another sound, a weak voice from somewhere not too far away.

"Is there anyone there?"

Peaches heard it again, but when she looked she could see no one about. She moved a little closer in her search for branches to investigate, checking every now and then that Sara didn't notice. The saber seemed preoccupied talking down to her pack mates "Come on try harder that should be plenty enough to climb out with"

Peaches wandered a little farther off in the direction of the voice.

"Hey what are you doing kid?" Sara shouted as she finally noticed Peaches wandering farther off than she was comfortable with.

Peaches stopped in her tracts. "Just uh" She stumbled on a whole load more branches concealed under the snow and pulled at one "Getting some more branches"

"Well hurry up we don't have all day"

"Hello?" The mystery voice came again only this time it was much closer.

"Hello" Peaches answered, "Who are you?"

"I'm Bill" A trunk pushed its way up from out of the snow up a head and waved around a bit.

Peaches gasped till she understood that the branches she had stumbled across were in fact covering another pit and that Bill, the missing mammoth, was stuck down it.

"How long have you been there? Didn't anyone look for you?" She whispered

"They did, but they couldn't hear me over their own voices as they called for me and of course they couldn't see me so I've been here a while now"

Peaches carefully looked down and saw Bill an old bull mammoth sitting down looking up at her.

"Oh you're only a kid" Bill said a bit disappointed "but didn't I hear other voices?"

"Yes there are some tigers, well just one now. Um you wouldn't help me would you? I could help you get out if you did"

"I don't know what a kid like you can do for me but I will help if I can"

"Well if I lure the tiger this way could you grab her and throw her as far as you can over that way?" Peaches pointed in the direction of the first pit. It would be a long shot but it was all she could think of right now.

"Sure, buy why?"

"Because there is another pit over there where her friends are stuck"

"Hey kid" Sara noticed Peaches acting strange "what are you doing over there?"

"Trying to get this really big branch" Peaches quickly replied

"I think that you're up to something" Sara growled and wandered over to investigate

"Me? No"

"Then what's taking so long?"

"I could do with some help actually"

Sara wandered closer. She saw the second pit but was not close enough to see down into it "What's that, another trap? Careful you don't fall in kid, you're very close to the edge of a great big hole there"

"But this is where the biggest branches are, help me pull this one free" Peaches edged around so Sara wouldn't see Bill concealed down the hole. Bill stayed very still so not to draw attention to himself and hoped he blended with the darkness of the pit.

Sara came closer still; she felt the branches under her paws instead of solid ground and hesitated "No I might fall through, you're lighter so you will have to do it yourself"

Peaches jumped up and down a bit on the springy limbs, she was naturally careful where she placed her feet thanks to her tree climbing lessons and so balance came effortlessly to her "Look safe as houses" She lied.

Sara observed how sturdy the branches were, she also observed how big the branch Peaches was pulling on was. She calculated that branch would be enough to get her pack free from the pit, free to eat the young calf, she would have to act now if she wanted this meal to herself "I think I can do that myself from now on, after I have had a snack for energy of course" Sara edged closer still to Peaches, feeling her way over the branches with a bit more confidence.

"But..." Peaches started

"That's the food chain for you" Sara said almost apologetically "I know it doesn't seem fair but that's the way it is"

Peaches could not move any further back without falling in; she hoped Bill would time this just right.

Sara stepped her front paws onto what was definitely less sturdy than Peaches was making out; she became fearful of falling through into the pit below and growled low and deep at the calf for again tricking her into danger. Well she hadn't fallen for it the first time and she wouldn't this time either. Peaches was just out of reach, she needed to take another two steps out over the trap to reach her. Slowly Sara edged a little further out; there was no need to rush as there was nowhere to run. With a little skill she would have this meal all to herself.

Bill saw the shape of the tiger through the gapes in what was left of the roof, come cautiously, creaking over head, he made a grab for her with his trunk.

"Ahhh" Sara screamed unsure at what had attacked her; nimbly she backed out of the way and avoided capture. Peaches sprung out of the way too as the fragile branches fell away from under them. Bill threw his trunk at the tiger again in an attempt to hit her but could not reach; he rumbled a low growl in frustration.

Sara sat back confidently, now she had the calf who had run back to where she could get safely at her and a bonus mammoth with enough meat on him to feed all her pack, cubs included. She felt very clever and smiled with childish delight as she contemplated big piles of light and dark meat piled up all around and all thanks to her. It was like Christmas come early and she cheered up greatly.

"Come on kid" She ordered now Peaches had nowhere to run or hide "We need to get my pack out, grab that branch while I'm still in a good mood and you may just get away. After all there is no need to be overly greedy" She lied. That calf was in for it weather she was hungry or not, she hated smarty pants prey.

Peaches sighed in defeat and did as she was told.

"What's keeping you up there Sara? We're almost out, hurry up already!" Dave shouted.

Sara, who was not helping Peaches at all to drag the final branch, skipped eagerly over to boast her fantastic find to her pack. "You will never guess what I..." She began, but didn't finish as she felt a great push from behind.

Peaches had been trying to copy Steve's over used tripping trick, but had tripped up herself in the hurry to catch the tiger unaware and ended up crashing into her, hard. Sara staggered forward; she teetered on the brink of the pit. She almost didn't, but being a baddy and a saber, she did eventually did fall in.

Peaches pulled herself up and rubbed a scrape on her knee, she would have to practice that manoeuvre some before trying it again. She brushed herself off and peeked down at the trapped tigers to make sure they were all stuck "suckers!" She called and ran off.

She ran around as fast as she could gathering up rocks and stones and brought them over to Bill "I will find some more to make a step to get you out" She called and rolled them down to him.

"What about the tiger? I thought..."

"Nothing I haven't had to deal with before" Peaches said casually, sure these ones were bigger but all in all they were just as dumb as Steve. Now that the crisis was over, Peaches wondered why she ever thought they wouldn't be, after all every grown up she met outside of her herd was so far a bit dim. Could be something to do with weak 2D OC's that.

"Wow you're one tough kid, what's your name?" Bill said genuinely impressed.

"Peaches, I'm going to get some more rocks, you'll be out in no time" Peaches said with a nervous grin before hurrying off

"Thanks... Peaches?" '_I guess_ _with a name like that she has to be tough' _Bill thought to himself.

* * *

"Well" Bill said as he climbed out of the trap "we had better get back to the herd, let them know we're Okay and tell them about these new tricks the humans use to catch us"

"I need to get back to my parents; they are going to be cross that I wandered off... again" Peaches said alittle ashamed.

"Not if we tell them how you saved me, they won't believe how brave and smart you are. Imagine taking on four sabers at your age!"

"Uh, could we maybe leave out the saber bit?"

"But that was the best part"

"My parents might not agree" Peaches self consciously kicked at nothing in particular.

"Ah, that was a bit too close huh?" Bill said trying to understand her change in mood "Listen kid, everyone no matter how careful runs into trouble, that's life. You dealt with trouble and showed it the door, or the big ol' pit in this case"

"I don't feel so good about that at all. They were bad, but..."

"And they are still alive to fight another day so don't feel so bad for them. With team work they will get out of that hole and we will be a good safe distance away by then."

Peaches felt a little better with that thought in mind, of course they would get out. They still had all those branches and were so nearly there.

They listened to the sabers roaring and snapping at each other. It was going to take a long while for them to finish blaming each other for their predicament before they even tried to get free.

"yep we will easily be a safe distance away" Bill repeated, " Even if we crawled"

Together Bill and Peaches walked back.

* * *

After a few hours of free play the cubs began to slow down and think about taking a nap. Collectively they decided the safest most comfortable place for this was on the mammoths backs. One by one they jumped up and each started kneading out a comfortable nest of fur to sleep in.

"Oo that's nice" Ellie said, she couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of many little paws treading and circling around."You know we could hire them out as professional back masseuses, this is so relaxing. Hey whoever's closest to my right ear can you move up a bit? Yeah that's the spot. Ah! This is absolute heaven"

"You are forgetting that we are hostages here, tied against our will while our only daughter is out there..." Manny started before he was interrupted

"With Diego, saving Sid from our friends the local mammoth herd, I know" Ellie finished for him "and there is nothing I can do about it. But if our captors decide to force me to endure the most fabulous massage in all time than I should at least try to enjoy it"

"It's not that good" Manny huffed, he could not relax, he just knew Peaches was in trouble somewhere and he was stuck here "They are probably tenderising us up to eat later" He muttered just to ruin Ellie's fun.

Just then Ari found a particularly difficult bump on Manny's back and forced it down with a mighty jab of his paws, there was a loud crunch as it slotted down nice and flat good for sleeping on.

"Ah!" Manny started with surprise before he realised "Wait they are good, I've been tight there for weeks that's really freed my neck up"

"There it's not so bad looking after these kids is it? So how about a bit less doom and gloom and lots more optimism! Please!" Ellie said as she relaxed half ready to join the cubs for their a mid day nap.

"I was right before you know"

"Yawn. Mm, you were, yawn, I guess"

"Ellie, I think they are going to sleep" Manny whispered, this was his chance to escape while they napped."Let's be quiet so not to disturb them"

"Good, yawn, plan" She agreed.

They waited.

* * *

Manny and Ellie lay very still and quiet.

Manny waited for the tell tale snoring to go on for ten minutes before daring to talk again.

"Ellie" He tried "Ellie wake up, nows our chance, try and wiggle free"

"Gosh... already?" Ellie woke from her dose "They just got off I was really enjoying the uh, peace"

"Yeah too much I think, we got to get back in control before anyone sees us like this"

"Oh yes, come on try reach my ropes with your trunk"

"I can't quite reach a round..."

"If you dare say my butt"

"No, I was going to say your, uh, my... ears?"

"Hope you were..."

"Shh!... One's stirring; we got to be more quiet"

"Then let's quietly concentrate on our **own** knots and not reaching each other's"

"Shh!" Manny hissed as he felt a cub move "... Phew false alarm it's just dreaming"

"He he, look Manny it's like running on the spot!" Ellie giggled as she watched the sleeping cub react to a dream. Her giggles died abruptly as she saw what the frantic running action was doing to Manny's fur "Ah, that's made a knot you're not going to like"

"Do something to calm it down before it looks like I'm wearing a bouffant"

"Like what?"

"I don't know something motherly"

"Too late. Hey you kind of look like Russell Brand with that"

"Ellie!"

"Okay I'm trying, just calm down Marge I mean Manny" She reached over and patted the cub till it relaxed and rolled over "There you go, uh oh" The new hair piece detached and rolled like tumble weed away with the breeze.

"That's stress" Manny said watching his giant hair ball roll away.

"And I thought you liked kids"

"I like my kid, everyone else's kids I now hate with a passion"

"Your kids you mean. You know the first thing I thought when we first met?" Ellie waited a sec for Manny to respond in case he wasn't as grumpy as she presumed he was; but he was. "I thought there's a guy who loves kids no matter what they are like, just like Santa all big hearted, jolly and kind"

"They are not my kids I just can't get rid of them that's all"

"Yeah keep saying that and I might just believe it –Not!"

"Can we just concentrate on the freedom and achieving it for now? Please!"

"Yes dear" They both wriggled and struggled as gently as they could for a while "I can't shift these vines, grrr... Wait I just got my leg free!" Ellie exclaimed

"great! Now you can get out and help me!"

"Hmmm" Ellie tried to think of a way to get up with only one leg without tipping the sleeping cubs off.

"What's wrong?"

"Well if I get up I will tip the cubs off and I will disturb their sleeping"

"So by then you will have untied me and this time we will stick together and not fall for their tricks, so just do it quick"

"I can't"

"Why not?"

"Well they have played so hard today and they are so cute, look at the little nests they made to sleep in; like little baskets" She cooed

Manny saw the gooey look in Ellie's eyes and knew they weren't going anywhere "Ellie you are hopeless"

"Shh! Manny they are sleeping, remember?"

Just then Sid and Diego returned, from a far it looked like the mammoths had everything under control but as they got closer reality hit. "Wow and you doubted my parenting skills" Sid exclaimed "You _really_, really suck Manny, you too Ellie"

"Didn't you say just yesterday kid's are easy?" Diego added amazed they could have been defeated by a bunch of babies. "What happened? It's been like two hours and your tied up and..." he struggled to describe the current state of their fur "everything. How?"

"Alright maybe _these_ kids are not that easy, maybe I was a bit quick to assume you were exaggerating when you said you needed help"

"And what about when I needed help with camp Sid?"

Manny's frown tightened but he stayed focussed "Sorry okay, now get them off already"

"Sure Manny anything for a friend" Sid said slyly looking around to find something to make the situation worse. He spotted a stick and snatched it up "Hey kids" He shouted waking the cubs "who wants to play piñata?"

"Sid. No!" Manny shouted. Ellie jumped up and wriggled free instantly

"Well if you can't win at being a good parent then you might as well be the bestest bad one that you possibly can" Sid teased

"Now Sid I never said that you would be a bad parent as such" Manny tried to reason

"You thought it! Especially about my eggs!"

"Yes, I mean maybe, I mean; I just worried about your mental state"

"No you thought I could not even raise an egg"

"Some one else's egg Sid! I thought you should not try and raise any eggs that wern't yours to play mommy with"

Ellie just shrugged, it had led to a fine adventure, which kind of outweighed any wrong doing in her books. "Well Sid did say he found them abandoned"

"He never made sure they were abandoned, so technically he stole them really" Manny corrected.

"But I meant well" Sid said as he swung back ready to give Manny a whack if his next answer wasn't up to scratch

"So did I when I said to put them back!" Manny said flinching at Sid's mock swing "I was only trying to help you in the long run, after all any one big enough to lay an egg that size is going to come down hard on some sloth stupid enough to try playing mommy with it on the steepest slope you could find which incidently lead to a huge cliff! And that was just the first five minutes of that particular parenting adventure"

"You could have been a lot clearer on the reasoning behind that" Sid said putting down the stick to scratch his head, "Would have saved us a whole lot of trouble if you had just said 'Sid find a better place to play or a more squaire friend to play with'. I thought you just didn't believe in me"

"Why should I need to explain everything to you? It's just good sense"

"Wrap it up guys, we are short one kid" Diego said after counting heads and comming up one short "where is Peaches?"

"She went to go with you just after Breezy left" Ellie said becoming very serious.

"Well she didn't join us" Diego said with a sigh as he now had yet another problem to fix, "Get out of those stupid vines already Manny, honestly everywhere I go disaster with you guy's, it's lucky we don't come across any real trouble anymore cos you've all gone soft"

"Looks like real trouble from where I'm standing" Mick announced as he and his posy caught up with their quarry.

"Manny your friends are here" Diego said as he quickly snapped the mammoth free "You want to have some time alone I bet, come on kids, Sid let's get"

"Nothing personal Manny" Sid said as he hurried after Diego "But I've had a belly full with you mammoths lately"

"What you can't just leave me in it" Manny said dismayed

"Really?" Sid asked suspiciously "You want my help?"

"Well" Manny tried hard to think of an alternative "I don't have a clue where to start explaining this"

"I do actually have a plan up my sleeve" Sid said with a cheeky grin

"Just tell them about our herd Manny" Ellie said fearing the worst from Sid "The truth is always best"

"Hah yeah right" Manny scoffed, with a truth like this anything was better surely "Sid what's the plan?"

"Here we go" Ellie tutted.

"Here I am to save the day!" Sid shouted over dramatically and whipped a small red cape out from somewhere and knotted it around his neck "Sid the super sloth strikes again" Sid climbed onto Manny's head "Ahem, be gone bad Di, I mean Tigers you will have to eat someone else for I am here now and no one messes with sloths, especially super sloths!"

"Whatever" Diego shouted over his shoulder as he left behind a boulder

"See how they quake in fear at the mere mention of my super name! You are finally free Manny my old chum now try and look happy for once. Come on just a little bit happy, I know you can"

"Sid I'll be happy when you're..."

"No weak and lowly citizen, you don't have to thank me it's all in a day's work for us super types" Sid boomed over confidently as bad actors tend to do

"What kind of stupid plan was that?" Manny hissed and knocked Sid off of his head "Even Ellie's daft idea was better than that"

"Manny a part from saying I told you so" Ellie cut in dryly "Could you just play along for now because we have got to go find Peaches"

"Fine" Manny growled louder so all could hear. "Thank you Sid the super smelly cloth, now dash off and make sure our enemies don't come back to soon" He kicked Sid hard sending him flying off after Diego.

"Darn, the super sloth really does exist" Giles said awed. He then grew quickly disappointed as he realised they had lost out on trampling anyone soon "But we've been waiting for a good stampede all day, now it's back to square one and we don't even have a sucker to sit as bait anymore"

"Wait a minute lads, I'm not buying a word of this" Mick said squinting hard to see the truth behind the daft façade (posh)

"But the super sloth, he saved the day we saw" Glies exclaimed "He even flew off to the horizon type area"

"No we didn't actually see anything, but we saw a lot of theatrics and heard a lot of whispering" Mick said

"But he flew!" Giles gasped

"Don't be fooled by a little 'sleight of hand', or 'kick of foot' boys. No we were right behind the tiger there is no way it managed to take down two mammoths that quick and without making a noise. Also that sloth was stuck in similar bonds all night and couldn't get out, so what's going on Manny?"

"Fine, Mick this is my herd. So no need to over react or anything, okay"

"What he is trying to say" Ellie cut in "Is that we have a very multi specie herd of friends that we are very proud of"

Mick sniggered "Have you lost the plot? I can try and sympathise with keeping the little vermin you know, for fun, but a saber? It goes against nature, you are mammoths. Look" Mick made a foot print next to Manny's "The same, see? Mammoth. Not tiger or sloth or anything else under the sun, just plain and simple mammoth. So come back to our herd and be mammoths" He said his voice turning deadly serious indicating Manny had no choice in the matter.

"Look I know what I am and what they are! And I don't keep them, we are all old friends and we are all equal in this herd. Well they are me and Ellie are a bit more equal"

"Manny" Ellie started

"Well they're hopeless without us mothering them constantly"

"Not feeling the love there Manfred" Sid called giving his and Diego's positions away. They had only ventured meters away out of sight behind a boulder as they didn't want to miss out on any mammoth fights that might go off. They felt sure Manny would defend them from the hostile herd with a spectacular show of enthusiasm, something never to be missed. Sid reckoned Mick would win as he had nine pals with him, Diego thought Manny would win even without Ellie's help as he was so easily worked up lately, and so damn violent anyway.

"Manny you can't have a pet cat" Mick said glowering, it was getting serious.

Manny scwinnied (King Lear did this and now I must use this word everyday) his eyes and spoke slowly as angry people do "I am not confused, I know what I am, I just have some strange friends that's all"

"And this particular friend of yours" Mick also spoke real slowly, emphasizing each syllable "Is he leading you anywhere? Maybe taking you and your family home to meet his pals for dinner perhaps?" He sneered

"It's not like that" Manny is hard pushed even now to express love for his crazy herd and stutters a bit "Diego is harmless like the rest of the menagerie"

"And where **is** the rest of your menagerie Manny?" Mick said as he looked around aware that he had not seen all the critters he knew to be part of Manny's herd, "those stripy rats and your kid! Where are they?"

"Uh... They are..."

"Playing hide and seek perhaps? With your saber friend maybe, are you really sure he didn't... "

Diego smirked, happy that his ferocious saber image was still appreciated and feared by the mammoth herd.

Sid shouted out raged "Diego wouldn't, he is veggie now so is perfectly safe to everyone!"

"What did you have to say that for?" Diego snapped at Sid and threatened to hit him

"What? I thought good karma and vegetarianism went hand in hand, you just got more grouchy pal"

"So where is your missing kid Manny?" Mick said weary of all the excuses and interuptions.

"Maybe if we all look for her we could find out!" Ellie snapped tired of all the delay this foolish male behaviour was creating. She so wanted to go and search but was equally worried that Manny and Mick, who although older was bigger, were going to come to blows over a little differing of opinions.

"No need to search, I know exactly where she is" Mick said implying Diego had eaten her

"I didn't" Diego said not bothering to hide anymore as he didn't want to miss the fight

"Oh really? I'm not buying that veggie poop and I'm not seeing any baby mammoth"

"He didn't" Ellie snapped "Peaches fooled us into thinking she was playing then sneaked off to find Sid, she thought you were going to feed him to some real predators"

"And his kids weren't going to eat you either I suppose?" Mick sneered

"They just play rough, don't you" Ellie said looking at the cubs hiding behind Diego, surely their cuteness would help lighten the situation, she hoped!

The cubs stared back in stunned silence "But we really tried" Ari whined," We defeated you, we did! Diego we won fair and square honest!"

"It's true this time we had them for sure" Adia said backing him up "If we only had our grown up teeth we..."

Diego quickly covered Aida's mouth before she could finish "I know I saw, it was a good job, I'm very proud team" Diego reassured the upset kids.

"We were playing tag! They cheated" Manny bellowed still irate at them.

"We were not" Ari said defiantly as he prepared to have to sort the mammoth out again "We only play 'survival of the fittest'" He puffed out his chest and pulled in his baby fat stomach in a very macho pose before finishing "and we are the fittest so we won"

Manny stopped himself from saying any more he wasn't arguing with kids as well as imbeciles (Mick) today. He took a calming breath to clear his head so to work out a way out of this situation and get back to finding Peaches. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard, they all needed a common enemy or something to unite them, they needed something big, but what?

"Humans!" A new voice wheezed

"What?" Manny said as he opened his eyes to see Peaches come racing over to them. Ellie had already started running over to greet her. Manny heaved a big sigh of relief that she was safe and then noticed an old bull mammoth trying hard to keep up with her "It was humans!" The old bull wheezed again before stopping to catch his breath.

"Bill I thought you were dead" Mick said astonished "Where have you been? We were searching..."

"Shh!" Poor Bill said as he took another deep breath, he was really feeling his age "I know, I heard you calling for me. I was stuck down a hidden pit, a trap made by the humans. Brave little Peaches here saved me"

"Oh Peaches I am so proud of you" Ellie said hugging her daughter harder. Peaches closed her eyes so they didn't get squeezed out. "But that is so in the wrong direction hon, we are going to have to work hard on your orienteering skills before you try anything like that again"

"Wait" Manny started confused "You know about these traps?" He asked Ellie

"Sure" Ellie answered "The first day our herd split, Sid and Diego discovered them when they fell in one"

"Easily done" Diego growled "There all covered and camouflaged, no one could possibly have seen it coming" (The pits did have sharp spikes in back then, chap 3 I think, but we will ignore that plot hole)

"So" Manny said taking on an air of 'told you so' confidence, "Everything seems to have worked out, the humans are to blame for any misdoings and me and my herd are good to go I think. Well it's been fun but now I'm certain my decision not to live with mammoths (Back before his unique herd he was a loner) was the right one"

"Ahem" Sid started "What you mean to say is we are family, united not by genetics or trees or colour, but by friendship, trust and above all love. And love is thicker than wine and anything else on earth so see ya you bunch of crazies"

"Yeah all that what he said family and stuff love too" Manny muttered quickly and turned to go and put some distance between the two herds while the peace lasted.

"Well Manfred if you are truly not as mad as I think you are then you will join us to eradicate this apparent human threat to all our families" Mick said eager not to let Manny off the hook just yet

"Sure I guess" Manny replied

"But, what if?" Sid started but could not finish.

There was no need Manny knew exactly what he meant "There is no way it's going to be pinkies family Sid, what are the odds?"

Sid smiled nervously, not at all reassured.

"We will scout out the situation, find out where they are camped and what threat they pose. Then when we return Manny I will expect you to help get them out of the picture once and for all"

Manny didn't back down he met Big Mick's very serious stare and nodded agreement. Mick turned to go. "It's good to have you back old Bill, although we won't be referring to you and your little herd of caribou as crazy hermits anymore. We will now say as Mad as Mad Manny who lives with his enemies ha ha ha"

Bill ignored the other Mammoths laughing, he way preferred his caribou pals to them anyway. He glanced back at Peaches and waved good bye, he thought to himself _'there must be some method to her parents madness if she is able to stand up to a pack of sabers all alone and come out on top'_ He smiled as she waved back before joining her cub friends in play teasing the sloth. Bill imagined a few legends were going to be born from that calf's adventures and smiled as he walked home. He hoped there was still some of that sweet spring grass left.

* * *

Later that evening when everything and everyone had calmed down.

"You know that could have gone a lot smoother if you were just honest with your friends from the start" Ellie said as they all sat by one of Sid's fires to contemplate where it had all gone wrong today.

"You don't understand" Manny replied aware that Ellie knew nothing of super stubborn male herd behaviour "These guys are so stuck in their ways they would never understand anything different to what they already believe to be true"

"Oh I don't know, they were fine when I introduced Crash's new friend Fleet to them"

"Possums are harmless"

"She is a wolf honey, let me finish. Everyone got on like a house on fire"

"Wait when did you do that?"

"When you were off running after everyone, as usual"

"You seem to fit an awful lot in" Manny said dismayed

"Well I've learnt that it's no good worrying about all the adventures you might be missing, you might miss the little ones of your own" Ellie mused very sagely.

Everyone missed how quiet Peaches was about her own adventure that day. They all had their own things going on too much to notice her sitting quietly beside her mum deep in thought. She pondered telling her parents about what she had done, maybe when no one was around who might take offence. She decided she would wait.

"So who's hungry?" Sid said eagerly now he was finally in charge of his own kids and no one was going to stop him doing things his way.

"Me!" All the cubs responded as they had not been fed since yesterday and so much had happened since then.

"Well let's learn how to forage then, come on!" Sid's enthusiasm to teach was as great as their hunger. The response he got however was not so great as the word forage caused them all to grimace. One by one the cubs turned on their best pleading looks to Diego to feed them instead.

"Don't look at me" Diego said quickly dashing any hopes of rescue "Till your parents get back that smelly green thing is all you've got"

"Come on he ain't that bad" Steve said in Sid's defence and followed Sid, the others reluctantly followed too.

"And what are you going to do?" Sid asked Diego who made no move to accompany them "You not hungry? Don't fancy joining us for some tasty seasonal salad?"

"Nope, I'm off to appreciate my freedom, a night on the town is just what I need" Diego replied before sauntering off on his own. He got as far as the den he had made the night before and fell asleep.

"He'll be back when he sees what culinary delights this 'vegetarian chef extraordinaire' has to offer later, come on kids it's converting time!" Sid led them off to see what they could rustle up.

Peaches could not help herself, she forgot her troubles and wandered after Sid to play to; being vegetarian already she was going to be good at this.

"Stay with Sid Honey!" Ellie called after her "And don't go too far Sid!" she warned

"Relax" Sid called back "I can't do any worse than you"

"True"

"Should we let them?" Manny asked too tired to really chase after them

"Well, we have had a pretty pants day so far" Ellie mused "I think we deserve a little alone time before the next fiasco arises"

"Hear hear" Manny agreed, after all Peaches had promised to be good from now on. They sat in silence for a moment listening to the calm peaceful quiet of nothing going wrong.

"I wonder what's happened to my brothers." Ellie suddenly thought

"Well that didn't take long" Manny sighed; he knew this calm was too good to be true.

"Well it has been a while since we heard from them"

"Probably celebrating their new found freedom"

"Oh yeah they were breaking up with that girl, I hope that went well"

"So do I, we hardly last five minutes under their friendly fire, imagine having a disgruntled possum actually wanting to cause harm"

For the first time since she had known him Ellie felt Manny shudder. She couldn't help gulping herself. "Let's enjoy this quiet time while it lasts" She said as she silently prayed Crash and Eddie were going about this with more maturity than even she could give them credit for.

* * *

Too much already going on this time so I'm saving the possums till next chap, which really will take a while as I've run out of plot! Happens to everyone I hear.


	12. So that's how mammoths get so big

A shameless bit of fluff filler while I figure some plot out. Still own nothing.

* * *

Eddie finally reached the copse of trees where he had left Emma last night. He could not hear anything that might suggest anyone was about, but still he did not dare call out for fear of attracting attention to himself. He decided to check out the situation first just to play it safe.

Eddie quietly tiptoed up to a scene of total carnage in the glade which he had noted last night, just before he gave in to total exhaustion, for its beauty and untouched tranquillity even with Emma in it. Berry bomb blast debris play scattered everywhere, bits of red pulp with black seeds dripped off of the spring foliage and splattered on the pristine snow, arrows were imbedded in the trunks of trees. The air was tainted with the unmistakeable after math of stink bomb and a very pointy sword (called a foil I am told) lay discarded on the ground.

What had happened and where was everyone now? Foot prints were everywhere, including his own; in fact mostly his own as he had made it impossible for anyone, including Fleet, to follow him home last night. There was no way any of these tracks would now lead him to Crash, they were just too confused. Eddie relented and started to call out for his friends to come out, if indeed they were still here. "Crash, Emma! Where are you guys?"

There was no answer; Eddie was left with no choice but to continue searching for more clues.

By chance Eddie found or heard his first real clue; a rhythmic scraping sound was coming from behind a hedge. He was beyond caring who it was, he just wanted answers, so he marched over and pushed his way through "Hey what's going on... Crash?"

Crash sat crouched down in hiding sharpening twigs into darts with a lethal point whist muttering something like "Get the better of me huh, I'll get you, I'll get you good, you'll see"

"Crash what are you doing? Didn't you hear me calling? Why didn't you tell me you were hidden here in this thicket muttering to yourself and looking like a crazed hermit? How long have you been here anyway dude?"

Crash looked up, suddenly aware of the intrusion and jumped up into a martial arts defensive pose with arms raised as if to deliver a karate chop "I'm ready for ya toots, bring it on" he growled

"Wait!" Eddie jumped back in surprise and defensively held his hands up to show how unarmed he was "I come in peace bro"

"Oh it's you! Phew, I thought for a minute there that you were ...her"

"So you didn't answer because you thought I was Emma?"

"Yes, disguising her voice to deceive me, she is capable of anything bro, she is evil"

"Evil?"

"Yes, now let's head back; we need to get to safer ground while we still can"

"Are you kidding, she's totally boring but not evil"

"Dude I have got here just in time then, you are in way too deep to see the danger you're in, come on I'm going to rescue you"

"Rescue me? You're the one who needs rescuing, you're crazy"

"That is just so ungrateful, after I've fought right down to my last dirty trick for you! Well take this" Crash still worked up from his fight earlier launched into a slap attack on Eddie's cheeks

Eddie returned Crashes slaps with some kicks and soon the brothers were rolling around causing untold and totally unnecessary injuries to each other.

Emma heard the commotion. Cautiously she came out of hiding, picked up her sword, retrieved her arrows and wandered over to see what was going on. She soon discovered the twins and quickly readjusted her fur in a sexy manner and adopted a casual pose leaning on her sword before announcing her arrival "A-hem"

Both boys stopped their fighting to look.

"Back for round two huh?" Crash spat "Well I'm ready for you this time missus" Crash leapt back and grabbed his new darts and posed poised for action "Bring it on"

"A smarter idiot would have learnt his lesson the first time" Emma replied raising her sword "I see I will have to repeat myself till you learn not to mess with me boy"

"Hi Emma" Eddie said, feeling a little self conscious and guilty about his brother and leaving her the way he did.

"And where exactly did you go?" Emma asked while keeping her eyes fixed firmly on Crash "And did you set your brother on me?"

"No!" Eddie looked at Crash and whispered in a harsh voice "Crash, stop being dumb!"

"Never"

"Give me five minutes then"

"Fine" Crash dropped his guard, but counted down the five minutes vigilantly.

Eddie turned back to Emma giving her his full attention "Emma I'm going to be honest, I ran away. I don't want to live in a tree, but I don't want to be a crazy bachelor either, there are enough of those already. So I decided maybe we could meet half way, compromise on what we both want and work on finding something we can both agree on, some middle ground, what do you say?"

"Don't do it Eddie" Crash gasped

"Shh" Eddie returned.

Emma thought about this "I like secure homes" she offered knowing there would be no compromise there.

"We could go from place to place changing homes but always finding good secure ones to stay in"

Emma cussed, good answer, she liked the idea of having a summer house ect. Still she would get him with this "I like furniture" She said knowing Eddie was not going to carry all that from house to house.

"We could renew each season, after all styles change"

"Grrr; well I like big families"

"We could work on that, after we've got to know each other and after we have spent some quality time playing together"

"But I don't like this one bit" Crash whinged

"No one's asking you" Emma taunted Crash wickedly

"Crash" Eddie looked deep into Crashes eyes and appealed to his soul, he did not want to be like Sid, he really, really did not want that at all "Do this for me!"

Crash saw the sincerity, the desperation in his brother's soul searching plea. But ultimately he knew that Eddie was probably under Emma's twisted grow up spell. He would have to do this creatively so not to lose Eddie completely to her "You can't just invite anyone to join our herd bro, we should all vote first"

"Why? When it's our herd! Ellie never asked us if Manny and his friends could join. They just invited themselves and never left! Now some times I don't mind but seriously other times they can all be so irritating"

"Well you still need my approval"

"No I don't"

"You do if you ever want to sleep safely at night again" Crash wiggled his eyebrows to indicate that he was implying to the threat Emma posed; the threat he would have to guard against day and night if she were to join the herd.

Alas, Eddie didn't get it "What you going to do?" he was angry at his own brother threatening him like that, so turned to insults to get one up on Crash "Dump a load of water on me? Because you already do that most nights anyway and you know what I'm referring to"

"I've out grown that, it was just a phase!"

"Uh huh, I think I hear the thousands of disbelieving voices disagreeing with you on that"

"Take that back!" Crash jumped at Eddie ready for another fight

Emma stepped in and broke them up, then stood between the brothers with her back to Eddie and her sword pointed to Crash "I would love to join your herd" She crooned smiling evilly at Crash "I'm sure we can find a good compromise that suits us all"

"Great let's go then" Eddie smiled amazed at his own diplomacy skills

Crash smiled too, over there Emma would not have her tricks and traps, at least they would be on equal ground with only what weaponry they carried "Fine but don't say I didn't warn you when this doesn't work out"

"How is it not going to work?" Eddie sighed

"When you see how evil she is" Crash replied

"Crash grow up" Eddie snapped back

"Yeah I'm hurt by that" Emma said while wiping away a false tear

"You'll be more than a little emotionally hurt soon enough" Crash growled

"Not by you wimp"

"Stop it!" Eddie jumped between them "You're going to have to get on if this is to work"

"Imposable! She is evil"

"Me evil, look in the mirror that's evil"

"I never went for you with a sword"

"You used bombs; I lost my wolf because of you"

"I lost my brother; and you had a long bow"

"Self defence! You fight dirty with those stink bombs"

"Hang on it sounds like you guys had a whale of a time while I was gone!" Eddie said realising he had missed out on something big here "Swords, long bows! I couldn't get a game of snap out of you, but for him you your all pirates and Robin Hood role play! What's that all about?"

"You left me!" Emma snapped

"I needed space!" Eddie snapped back

"You never said a thing! Was I supposed to wait forever?"

"No, just don't hit on my brother in the first five minutes of by absents"

"He attacked me!"

"Only after I heard your evil plan to make Eddie grow up and take him away from me!"

"It was what he wanted!" Emma shreaked

"I wanted to play pirates and Robin Hood! I would have been happy with snap!"

"I would have played that with you" Crash said in a glum voice

"Right after you were through playing with her right?" Eddie snapped back at him.

"I couldn't find you"

"So with me missing you thought, how shall I pass the time? I know I will make a move on his girl friend"

"I was waiting to make a move on you, wait I mean make a move to save you! I just wanted her out of the picture"

"So get rid of her and hold me back from growing up forever. Well was it fun the sword fight? Huh did you enjoy the Robin Hood role play? Because she is still here and it was me that had to come find you"

"It was certainly more fun than waiting for you to come back from your nights out with her!" Crash said, his voice full of resentment.

Eddie launched himself at Crash at the same time Crash jumped at him and they fell to the ground wrestling each other. Emma tried to break them up -again "Stop it, this is so immature! Ow! Which one of you just hit me?" She slapped them both back to be sure and then carried on fighting for the hell of it.

Soon the fighting all stopped and they stood panting and wheezing hard in an effort to catch their breath. No one it seemed was as young as they remembered.

"I swore" Emma wheezed "to my dying mother (pant) I would only play (pant) with my one true love (pant) So I was waiting till I was wed (cough, pant) before I trusted anyone enough to enjoy a game with them" She stood bent over but defiant.

"You were very (pant) well practiced for someone (pant) who never plays at archery (pant) and sword fighting" Crash tried to snap. "Perhaps your lying skills (pant) are just as well developed"

"Crash!" Eddie gasped for breath "Ok I'm sorry (pant) Pirates and Robin hood are my favourite games (pant) so I thought for a minute there you guys were..."

"There mine too!" Emma gasped through pants "We already have so much in common"

"She has a lot in common with (pant) a snake in the grass too; doesn't mean one should have to marry her"

"Crash, Stop it!"

"Love is truly blind! If you survive till next week I will officially apologise, but I bet my sling shot you don't"

"You're on!" Eddie said with some enthusiasm "My innovative one of a kind joke book, signed by me the author, says we will last at least a week"

"This serious relationship hasn't just turned into a bet right?" Emma asked a little concerned

"Yes" Crash replied in answer to both 'the bet' and the, 'this is not a bet' questions.

"Right" Eddie said happy that together they had reached a compromise "Now we are agreed let's go home" With a quick high five Crash and Eddie headed off as if nothing had ever happened between them, leaving Emma a little bemused to follow behind.

* * *

Meanwhile back at camp, while Manny and Ellie enjoyed some peaceful alone time by the fire watching a lovely sunset, Sid was gathering food for his new vegetarian family.

"This is lettuce," Sid announced holding up the small green leaf for all to observe "We can eat that. That is broccoli, high in calcium and iron, we can eat that. Deadly night shade! We leave that one out, no touching kids, just listen to the name; it's a bad sounding plant therefore a bad eating plant. Ah rocket! Sounds good, sounds fun, cause it is" He popped some into a leaf basket which he was carrying to hold all the gathered food in.

"It looks the same stupid green colour as everything else, how're we meant to tell one weed from another?" Ari moaned as he was totally missing the thrill of hunting already.

"Practice!" Sid said with added emphasis, "Oh look beans, you can't go wrong with those, this one you can eat with the pod! Double the calorie and vitamin intake!" Sid carried on finding and enthusing over all sorts of herbs, veg and legumes. "Okay we almost have enough" He announced after what seemed like hours of picking.

"We almost have a pile of leaves" Muttered Isla, disappointed that after all that work she was still hungry.

"A good start to a composed heap" Tala, her sister, whispered back trying to lighten the mood.

"We could use it to lure some real food" Breezy said thoughtfully "Then all of us pounce on it"

"This **is** good food" Sid announced with pride as he hefted up his bowl of salad. The three girls suddenly saw him as a large steak and nodded their heads in agreement while their mouths watered. Sid was glad to have their attention still as gathering these leaves had taken longer than expected "and this stuff will make you grow strong like an ox, or a mammoth, or even (he flexed a bicep for effect) -a sloth!"

The cubs jaws collectively dropped.

"So that's how they get so big!" Breezy said trying to put two and two together and ending up with twenty two "If we eat the same food as mammoths then we will become as big and strong as mammoths!"

"And sloths" Sid added glad that vegetarianism was going down so well after all the fun of gathering.

"So why has no one ever thought of that before?" Tala said a little suspiciously

"Because it doesn't work" Steve said "I tried once and just got sick"

"But you're still bigger than us" Aden said joining in after over hearing the fantastical possibilities vegetarianism may indeed offer. These possibilities soon spread like wildfire through the imaginations of all the cubs.

"We better get more leaves!" Zan said before Steve could point out that cave lions were bigger and better than sabers with or without weed food. Steve growled with frustration as the other kids started to hurry around trying to figure one leaf from another; they were so dim these sabers. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse Peaches appeared with copious amounts of salad veg and even wild rice gathered on a big leaf laid across her back. Steve growled low and deep _'She is so... so... got to be the best at everything. One day I am so going to get her' _He cussed

"Wow" Sid said stunned the amount of food Peaches had gathered; his own bowlful was really sad in comparison. He brightened up as he thought about the eating soon to come "Well let's start learning to cook and prepare this meal!" He said brightly and led them all back to camp where he boiled, stir fried, souped and baked the ingredients gathered over a fire.

Half an hour later they had a three course feast prepared of veg soup, three bean and lentil salad and stuffed vine leaves. Even Manny was impressed but didn't ask for any because he knew Sid had not washed his hands before he made any of it. Instead he and Ellie stayed quietly out of the way so not to be used as bouncy castles again.

"Well eat up" Sid said as his kids stared at the feast prepared.

Steve looked at the other cubs and waited for them to try it first. Peaches and Sid were just shovelling it down so breezy took a chance on the green stuff. She picked up a stuffed leaf and swallowed it. She started chocking instantly as it lodged in her throat to dry to go down.

"Told ya so" Steve said as Breezy tried hacking it up like so much fur ball. Sid leapt over picked her up by her short tail and slapped her back till it flew out.

Sid felt a bit bad but was determined to carry on "You got to chew it..." Sid realised he didn't know their names and made a mental note to ask Peaches later.

"Chew it?" Breezy asked

"Chew?" the other cubs repeated chewing this new word over trying to make sense of it

"Yeah chew it, you know, mash it up with your teeth"

"Slice it up?"

"No. Look" Sid demonstrated chewing with slow exaggerated chomps.

Breezy being ever curious stood up on her hind legs and peered right into his mouth fascinated. Sid felt a bit self conscious at how daft this looked especially as she pointed a paw in his gob to point out her findings to the others "It has flat teeth!"

Even Steve had to see this; they all tried to look in. Sid swallowed his over chewed food in time for the questions to start

"Why are they flat like that?"

"Did you bite a rock when you were little and squash them?"

"Are they broken?"

"They don't even line up right look"

"Did some one punch you in the face?"

"What exactly is so different about your teeth?" Sid said exasperated

"Ours are sharp" Aida said logically, "look"

"Whoa!" Sid said looking into what looked like a bear trap of nasty points "how exactly do you guys eat with those?"

"These grip" Breezy said pointing to Aida's small front teeth "When we get these" She indicated a gap awaiting for her big adult teeth to come through "They do the killing. Then" she pointed the mountainous triangular ones at the back, "these slice food off of the bone and then you swallow" She pointed to the throat section.

"No molars at all then?" Sid said as he realised all those teeth were quite useless for chewing vegetable matter. "Okay we need to rethink this dinner"

Sid chopped up the veg, mashed the beans, mixed in the soup and created a mush much like what baby food looks like. "Now try eating" He instructed. Breezy found she could just lap it up it was so soft and gooey. After five minutes of her not chocking the others tried and found it was good, maybe better than real food, but only maybe.

Peaches could not believe how much Sid had had to ruin the food she gathered for them to eat. She was hoping to eat with everyone else but didn't like this new slop. Still there was some salad left so she and Sid ate that; she was defiantly breakfasting with her parents tomorrow though.

Everyone in the end ate well. Sid felt quite satisfied with himself. "Ok bath then bed everyone" He announced as the last chap, the start of this day, had taken so long it was now getting late.

The cubs whinged, they hated washing, reluctantly they started to lick themselves clean.

"Oh yuck! What are you doing?" Sid said appalled.

"Cleaning?" Steve offered

"With your tongue?" Sid said even more horrified "That is disgusting! No, no, no! We wash in clean water!"

"blind leading the blind" Manny muttered half amused at the thought of Sid actually washing let alone teaching someone else to.

Sid passed a glare in his direction "Ignore him kids, come on I will show you proper bathing"

"Better get someone to explain how as this will be a first for you too Sid" Manny said after they had wandered off a fair distance

"Whatever Manny" Sid called back

"Can I go too?" Peaches asked her mum

"Well someone better show them how it's done" Ellie giggled, "Just promise not to wander away from Sid!"

"I won't!" Peaches called back as she was already racing off

"Have we really forgiven her already?" Manny asked trying to remember if Peaches was ever actually sorry for wandering off so much lately.

"Yep" Ellie replied confident that whatever they did Peaches, like her father, would always do what she thought best regardless.

* * *

Sid led the cubs down to a big rock pool "This will do" He said as he broke the ice. The cubs line up on the shore and grimaced both at the cold and the water.

"I dare you to go in Zan" whispered Ari

"No way, the leader should go first" Zan whispered back

"Breezy" Ari whispered "You like new stuff you go"

"Uh, I went first with the food, someone else should try this"

Steve wanted to be the best at this before Peaches came along but his feet froze at the water's edge.

"Come on kids you're not going to get clean by just looking at it" Sid said as he tried hard to make his own foot go into the freezing water. Why didn't he do this earlier when the sun was still high? Oh yeah he was still tied up and awaiting rescue. Finally he got into the water and stepped away from the shore "Come on its lovely" he lied through chattering teeth

Eleven sets of eyes stared back totally unconvinced.

Peaches rushed over, after searching a few rock pools and glad to finally find everyone, and dive bombed in to join Sid. Thanks to her thick coat she was protected from the cold so playfully she filled her trunk with water and showered Sid in a bid to get this bath time started.

"Ahhh" Sid screamed

The cubs laughed.

Peaches looked at the cubs lined up on the shore. She was suddenly hit by a very cheeky idea; she filled her trunk up again and squirted Steve right in the face.

The cubs laughed harder.

Steve however fumed; he launched himself into the water after her causing a huge wave that splashed the other cubs and submerged Sid completely. Peaches giggled and ran to deeper water where she had to swim to keep float. The cold water finally got the better of Steve's temper and he slowed to a stop before he got to deep. With a final glare at Peaches he walked back to Sid looking and feeling a bit yucky and dismal.

"Now calm down kids!" Sid said as he knocked some water out of his ear "let's not get carried away with the bath fun, washing needs to be taken seriously"

"Can you teach me to swim?" Steve asked Sid

Sid was flattered; finally someone actually wanted his help "Sure tomorrow we can all learn to swim"

"But I want to learn now" Steve growled as he looked back to Peaches just out of his reach

"Patience, first we must learn to bath! Come on the sooner we start the sooner we play! Now use your paws to scrub behind your ears like this. And now you need to get this bit and work your way all round" Sid said loving every minute despite the cold.

Steve quickly scrubbed all over and got out as fast as he could, it was so cold. He was shivering when he got out and shook himself all over the other cubs. Then he remembered them laughing at him and decided now was payback time "Come on it's your turn babies!" He taunted and stalked closer to where they stood forcing them all into the water. "The sooner you're clean the sooner we get to go, so move it!" He growled and pounced on any who tried to make a dash past him. "In you go" he threw a struggling Aida in. She shrieked before she realised that other than being cold and nasty feeling, the water didn't actually hurt.

They all reluctantly washed with the horrible wet water, Sid was in his element, but Peaches could tell he was the only one enjoying it.

"Keep moving and you won't get so cold" Peaches advised the miserable cubs. "Come on run around a bit, its fun!"

One by one they started to copy. Breezy smiled as she realised the water made her quite weightless so jumping up and out only to land softly with a big splash was great fun. "Guy's this really is fun, try it!"

Soon they were all running and jumping around after and on each other. Now Sid could not tell one cub from another so could not tell if they had all washed or not. He tried desperately hard against the odds to wash them all anyway.

Twenty minutes later and Sid had had enough "Ok kids home time!" He called from the shore; he was freezing and very much looked forward to his fire back at camp. The cubs were not listening however. "Don't make me come in and get you!" He threatened; to no avail. He needed a better threat "You will shrivel up like raisins if you stay in there too long! You too Peaches! They will all say look there goes that mammoth sized raisin see how wrinkly and funny she looks! Now come on out!"

Reluctantly Peaches lead them out; she didn't really believe Sid but better safe than sorry she thought as she imagined herself all wrinkled up and old looking.

Sid led them back and they all dried off around the fire eating pop corn and listening to the further tales of 'Super sloth', a humble mild mannered guy by day and super awesome hero at a bit before bed time.

"Ah Sid truly looks happy doesn't he" Ellie said to Manny as she watched from there safe distance well out of the way.

"Now if only he could find a nice girl have a family of his own and be happy somewhere else" Manny replied in his usual tone "She wouldn't even have to be nice, or real"

"Shh Peaches is coming over and she will hear you. Is it time for bed baby?"

"yep" Peaches said as she snuggled up to her parents warm embrace. She could not get settled however, she had liked sleeping in a pile with the cubs last night. Her mind started to work as she thought up ideas of how she could be a mammoth and a cub at the same time.

Sid pulled up a good bit of bark to sleep on and eventually settled down. Steve waited for him to get comfortable then flopped across his stomach squishing the breath out of him with a whoosh.

"Getting bigger huh Snowball"

"Yep, and stronger"

"I better keep up, these abs of steel are suffering a bit under here"

Steve pretended not to understand, there was no way he was sleeping on the cold ground. He left no room for the other cubs, Breezy prodded Sid's nose to see if she could make enough space to lie down while Zan and Lars tried manoeuvring Sid's feet to make a bed. Sid started giggling as his feet were very sensitive. "Ok, ok I will find more beds just wait" He got up and started yawning as he looked for more bark.

The cubs looked at Peaches curled up warm with her parents enviously

Peaches remembered her secret! She had not told her parents about the sabers stuck in the pit! She looked away feeling guilty for doing it and extra guilty for forgetting. She so wished she never snuck off; tomorrow when no one else was around she would tell her parents and they would make everything right.

Sid returned with a long thin bit of bark "Ok enough room for every one! Night kids. Good night Manny, Ellie Peaches, everyone who is not here and dearly missed unless they've upset me lately" He dropped into instant sleep

Manny huffed, he had forgotten about the missing possums, and Diego had been gone a long time now. Still they were all old enough to look out for themselves, he would worry about them tomorrow. "Night Sid, don't let the bed bugs bite" He replied dryly

"The what? Where?" Sid snapped up out of his slumber

"Figure of speech, just go to sleep" Manny said a bit amused, he wished Diego was here, he would have enjoyed that. Instead he got a look from Ellie that said 'Don't be so naughty!'

"Easy for you to say" Sid muttered as he checked for creepy crawlies before falling to sleep instantly again.

Manny tutted at the ease Sid fell asleep with while he struggled to relax and then he too dropped off instantly.

Peaches finally thought of a good solution, not to her trapped sabers problem, but to her wanting to sleep both in a pile and with her parent's problem. She crept over to Sid and pulled the piece of bark with everyone on it over to her bed, she liked sleeping in a pile. Ellie grinned she liked it too and helped Peaches lift Sid and company up and tipped them to fall between Manny and herself. She then tossed the bark far over her shoulder and lifted Peaches up to sleep on top.

Ellie watched the last of Sid's fire died away hopping that her brothers might show up, It had been a while now since the three of them were all together, something they vowed as kids would never happen. Still things change and some promises are hard to keep. She missed them but knew she had to give them space to try and mature, if they could. After what seemed like ages she eventually fell asleep too.

* * *

Elsewhere the possums were all very tired and had not gotten very far at all.

"Guys I'm tired!" Crash whined

"Me too" Eddie agreed "Let's stop for a bit"

"We would be there by now if someone hadn't of chased off my wolf!" Emma snapped

"Well if someone had kept her hands off of my brother someone else would not have chased off her wolf!"

"Guys stop arguing!" Eddie said "Look this tree looks like a safe place to sleep"

"Good enough to sleep in but wouldn't want to live in one huh?" Emma said spitefully.

"Too tired to care right now" Eddie said dismissing her complaints completely as he and his brother looked for a good sheltered branch from which to sleep.

"Well good night Crash"

"Good night Eddie"

They hung from their tails, stretched yawned and settled to sleep. Eddie could not ignore a tap, tap, tapping noise coming from below. He cracked open an eye and saw Emma glaring up at them and tapping her foot furiously.

"Do you think you could keep it down?"

"I like to sleep on Fleet. I like the feeling of security, that I have a protector when I'm at my most vulnerable!"

Eddie gave a great dramatic sigh "Ill protect you, come up"

Crash imitated him in a childish manner but was ignored as Emma climbed up anyway and lay in the nook of the branch. She hated it instantly; it was too hard, too cold, too windy and way too high. She struggled to stay balanced.

"Hang like us" Eddie said seeing her struggle

Emma gave it a try but her tail was never used like that and didn't have the strength to hold her up anymore. She fell to a branch below catching herself with her arms and climbed back up unscathed but miserable.

Crash giggled at her. Emma jumped up and snatched a berry bomb from the stash behind his back.

"Hey!" Crash cried thinking she was going to hit him

Emma looked like she was going to throw the bomb at him but instead she marched along her branch back to the tree's trunk and launched it there to create a neat hole. "I like houses thanks! I will see you guy's in the morning; if you're still hanging there that is, you look like perfect snacks for owls"

The boys looked at each other; gulp "owls!"

"I'm coming in" Eddie screamed "Crash there's room for three!"

"I know it's my bomb, and I'm staying here thanks; even eagle owls are safer than that snake in the ...tree trunk"

"Night then" Eddie said disappointed.

"What! You're choosing her over me!"

"No! I'm choosing a safe warm bed over a cold exposed restless night being eaten by owls"

"Nothing safe and warm about that bed there, just remember you made the bed you sleep in tonight, if anything happens like her putting a knife in your back it's your own fault I tried to warn you"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, gosh you sound like Manny"

"You look like Sid"

That hit a sore spot as Eddie so didn't want to be a crazy bachelor "Take that back!" Eddie stamped back clenching his fists.

"Are we sleeping tonight or what!" Emma screamed wanting to settle down already.

Both boys shuddered as her voice grated right through them.

"Only some of us are dead tired and getting quite frustrated with all this stupidness!"

"Um, ok" Eddie said timidly hoping his hearing wasn't permanently damaged. "This isn't over!" He snapped at Crash before he trailed back to the hole to sleep. He felt weaker with each step. It had been a long time now since he last slept properly; maybe things would seem different in the morning. He hoped so he hated warring with his brother constantly like this

Crash glowered, she was already killing the rebellion in Eddie, when had they ever done as told like that? Never! Still he had to admit he was pretty damn beat himself and was not going to kick up any kind of decent fight right now about it. Maybe tomorrow, yes defiantly tomorrow he would be up to protesting against being told to stop fighting and go to sleep! Just she dare try telling him to do that in the morning! Just she (yawn) dare. With a few precautionary checks, because he didn't trust her one bit Crash fell asleep.

* * *

Elsewhere down a pit four Sabers still argued.

"So if anyone asks, what are we to say?" Dave asked his pack

"We were attacked by fifty rattle snakes" The three girls chanted

"Damn right! No one beats a rattle snake, sneaky little... Now why haven't one of you gotten out of this pit yet?"

"We need one more tiger to stand on for Jess to be able to jump out" Sara said for the millionth time "If Dave you were to allow me to stand on your back while Tammy stands on mine, then Jess could jump out from on top easy"

"Only as leader I am not going to be at the bottom of any such formation as I have said before. My place is at the top"

"We tried that already and you are way too big and heavy for us to hold up" Jess said "And anyway I can jump so much higher than you it makes sense..."

"No the leader is never at the bottom, I can see no sense in that. Maybe if we had you Sara and Tammy holding me up I could hold Jess on my back for a millisecond"

"Won't be high enough" Said Jess

"It will if I say it will" Dave growled stubbornly, he just couldn't risk anyone seeing him ranking bottom of a pack of girls even if it was to get out of a pit, his pride just couldn't stand for it.

"It won't because we already tried and it didn't" Sara said

"Then let's sleep on it and try again in the morning" Dave snapped.

"Fine" the three ladies sighed utterly defeated by their all too heavy leader. They settled in the most sheltered corner as the clouds above looked like they would snow any time soon

"Why did you have to let the calf push you in?" Dave asked Sara for the umpteenth time

"She was a tricky calf" Sara snapped

"Watch your tone" Dave growled but didn't get up

"Sorry must have been the catnip still making me think funny" Sara said all low and respectful.

"It was the catnip that made us all unable to balance on the branches to climb out in the first place" Jess sighed." Still it can't stay in the system forever, and up until we met that calf it had been a wonderful trip"

"Tomorrow we will get out of this mess, find that calf and have our revenge" Sara growled

"I make the plans remember" Dave snarled

"Ah sorry, Catnip again I think" Sara murmured

"Better be, if you were male I...well it's a good thing you're not this pack's small enough, just don't forget your place. Tomorrow we get the cubs back, I miss them"

"Aw" Sighed Tammy at Dave's sentimental side

"Of course Dave" Sara sighed he was a strong leader with a good commanding roar but old Dave didn't necessarily lead where she wanted to go. Still he could fight and Sara admired him for that if not his thinking. She would have to rethink getting out of this pit tomorrow. Maybe using the branches that lay scattered on the floor, maybe she could pile them up again. Tomorrow she told her over active brain as the others curled up together to sleep, tomorrow we will get out no matter what and then that calf is mine!


	13. Breakfast with Sid

Well it's been a while so this is going to be a bit slow and fluffy till I get back into it

* * *

It was a cold, dark night. Clouds heavy with snow blotted out any moonlight and a cruel northerly wind stole any warmth an unprotected body could muster; this is summer in the ice age.

Crash shivered hard and wished he was not so stubborn not to join Eddie asleep inside the shelter of tree trunk. He needed to keep moving if he didn't want to end up looking like a Popsicle so he began stripping off bark and leaves from the branches around him to make a thick winter coat for himself.

He was feeling much warmer and rather pleased with himself, when he noticed how new snow had already covered the branches that he had stripped of bark. This got him thinking, '_I could booby trap a few of these branches and no one would be able to tell -till too late!' _He set to work nibbling through a few limbs enough so they would snap should someone, like Emma, try using them to sneak up on him while he slept.

Satisfied that he was now safe from both the elements and Emma, Crash hung from his tale and fell fast asleep.

Emma slept soundly for a few hours then woke quite suddenly; she had thought of a simple yet brilliant plan to get rid of Crash. She made sure Eddie was sleeping soundly then crept out, found a very sharp twig, snapped it off of the tree and started to creep over to where Crash was sleeping peacefully. "_I will just tell Eddie that an owl got him_" She thought, then she noticed how Crash was all wrapped up against the weather and cussed under her breath. Tossing her twig aside Emma quickly selected a much bigger one which would better penetrate all the extra layers of Crashes coat. Emma crept closer holding her sharp stick in both hangs and grinning wickedly at her own super stealthieness. Just then she heard a slight snapping sound as the branch which she was creeping along began to bow sharply downwards. Her smile vanished as she realised she was going quite literally to _fall_ for one of the oldest tricks in the book. The branch creaked under her weight and began to splinter. Emma dropped her weapon and spun her arms wildly in an effort to keep her balance. She needed to jump ship and fast. With a deep creak the branch tilted further, it was now or never, she leapt forward and grabbed a hold of Crash just as the branch beneath her fell away.

Crash awoke with a start as he felt urgent arms wrapping around him. "AHHHHHH!" He screamed in disbelief, _'she couldn't have been as heavy as I guessed! But with curves like that how could that possibly be!'_

Emma stuffed her foot over Crash's mouth to stop his scream; she so didn't need Eddie waking up and finding them like this. Crash struggled to shake Emma off, but only succeeded in losing his grip with his tail. Both possums plummeted to the ground kicking and punching all the way. They hit the snow fighting and rolled and tumbled unable to stop till they had gathered enough snow to turn them into a giant snowball thundering quickly downhill and away.

Eddie awoke to the sound of crashing in the distance, like trees being crushed and splintered. He saw that Emma was gone, quickly he got up and looked out; Crash was gone too!

The rumbling was quite distant now, he looked around, all he could see was a lot of snow and a single track that grew bigger and bigger as it led away from the tree he was sitting in. He followed the track for as far as he could see and glimpsed the top of a giant snowball disappearing over the horizon leaving broken trees and debris in its wake. Eddie quickly shook himself awake and raced after it.

* * *

Peaches was already awake and boiling hot, sleeping in a pile the night before had been fun. Sleeping in a pile with your dad, who was wearing the biggest and poofyist of woolly coats in the whole of the ice age however was like throwing yourself on top of a barbecue. She rolled over and stuck her feet in the air trying to get some of that cold wind to cool her down. She just knew she was going to have to get up but so didn't want to. She began thinking of ways to cool down without having to move. She didn't get long to ponder before a solution was found for her.

Manny woke up suddenly from a dream about molten lava flowing wildly all about him. He could not find Ellie or anyone else for that matter and stood up abruptly in a hot panic causing Peaches, the cubs and Sid to fall off his back and into the lovely cool snow below with a splat.

Relieved by the familiar sight of thick new snow all around him Manny let his nightmare go with a sigh. But why was he so hot? Manny checked his temperature, he felt normal enough and he was rapidly cooling off now he had woken up. Someone was playing tricks he suspected and looked around for a culprit. It wasn't Ellie she, after getting too hot, had shuffled off during the night and still slept soundly in the cool snow. Manny's brow furrowed as his eyes and suspicions fell on Sid and his cubs sitting in a heap where he had just jumped up from. "It was that stupid sloth" Manny growled as he wiped a stream of drawl from behind his ear. _'Thinks he can use me as a bunk bed on top of everything else does he? Well he can think again' _Manny set a stern glare on Sid as he thought about how he was going to pay for this, _'pummelling? Na, too easy. Perhaps I should sit on him?'_

Sid sat up after his rude awakening and rubbed his head while looking bewildered. There was nothing unusual about finding himself dumped in the snow first thing in the morning but for some strange reason nobody was laughing at him. Sid rubbed his eyes; it was really early and the snow was blindingly bright in its whiteness. A blurry tree like figure struggled to come into focus before him. Bits of it swayed gently in the breeze. Sid rubbed his eyes harder and looked again as he didn't remember any tree there last night "Ahh!" he gasped as he realised it was Manny glaring back at him! "AHHHHH" He screamed again pointing a claw at the ghastly apparition "Manny you're falling apart!"

Manny took a look at himself; his fur was all grey and tufted, and hung off of his body in random clumps "Stress" He said finally with a sigh, the strain of looking after this mishap herd was finally getting to him "I need a holiday" He sighed as self pity over took anger his anger with Sid.

Sid recovered himself enough to think straight "Are you sure that it isn't just moult?" he asked suspiciously "After all what is it that you actually do that's so stressful?"

"Ellie's fur isn't falling out" Manny pointed out

"And what're you implying there?" Ellie asked waking up in time to notice her contributions in the herd going unnoticed.

"Erm" Manny stumbled as he realised she was awake "It's just that over the last couple of days all you guys have done is play about while I have had to chase around after just about everyone, that's all" Manny said quickly in an attempt to explain himself.

"I think my 'playing about'" Ellie said using her trunk for air comma etherizes "caused much of my old fur to fall out gradually, while you have been standing around and worrying a lot, mostly over nothing, thus your old fur is coming out all at once" She then rolled her eyes and muttered 'stress?' under her breath.

Peaches wandered up and tugged at some of the fur hanging off of her dad. The long tassels were grey and dull and came away easily in her trunk. Underneath she noticed a rich brown short fur peeping through. "Look I found a new dad underneath!" She said excited and pulled some more of the old fur away. This she found to be quite addictive as she quickly cleared a big patch of Manny's leg.

Manny felt the cold air rushing in where the new fur was not insulated enough yet to keep the cold out "Don't pick holes in daddy Peaches, it's not nice" He said pushing her back out of reach.

"Well it needs to come off" Ellie giggled as she came over to ruffle and pull a bit off of his head "you look a hundred years old wearing all that" Ellie found she could not stop from pulling a bit more off. Then a bit more...

"Is he not a hundred years old then?" Sid asked with a cheeky smirk as everyone began to advance on Manny.

"Stop that!" Manny stepped back out of everyone's reach.

Peaches wasn't sure how old her dad was and paused to think. Ellie knew Manny was older than her, but not by how much "So how old are you anyway?" She asked embarrassed for not knowing.

"You must be pretty old because it must have taken years to find enough food in these icy conditions to make you that fat" Sid surmised going into detective mode with a claw tapping his chin as he totted up how many calories in a high fibre, low calorie diet it would take for a mammoth to get to Manny's size. He concluded it would take forever so one hundred was probably about right.

"Sid coming from you that is just ludicrous" Manny replied, "You're the same shape as a butternut squash, a really, really bottom heavy butternut squash"

"You should know Manny, I bet you've eaten hundreds over the many, many years you've been around" Sid said knowing that Ellie would save him from being sat on by his short tempered friend.

Manny lifted his trunk to pummel Sid with, he stopped however when he noticed Sid's cubs react raising their hackles and extending their small but horribly sharp claws. This sloth was going to make them very big and therefore very strong so they would protect him till all his secrets were revealed.

Peaches did not like the sudden change in the herd her eyes darted to her mum hoping she would fix it.

Ellie sighed disappointed that despite talking about it Manny never tried being diplomatic "Manny what have I, err **we** talked about?" She hinted hoping he could resolve this peacefully with only a few prods from her good self.

Manny thought hard "A lot of things" he replied testily still thinking of the dangers posed by Sid with the power of a pack of sabers behind him robbing every one far and wide of their berries.

"But one thing in particular which is quite appropriate here" Ellie urged him looking at Sid and back to Manny again for added emphasis.

"Uh..." Manny could not think of anything else. He tried to remember what he and Ellie had been doing lately in hope of finding a clue as to what she was referring to. All he could remember was that she had enjoyed playing with all the kids the other day so he made what he thought was a good guess "Having more kids?"

"Wo, wo, wo!" Sid near screamed "Hold it right there I do not need to hear this" Sid said as he scrabbled to get away, this was too much like watching parents kissing! Sure it happens but it is still wrong "Lots to do, kids to feed! See you later Manny, Ellie, Peaches" Sid ran off to look for breakfast, the cubs followed him always eager for more food.

Ellie smiled, sure that was not what she had expected from Manny but she was pleased with the results "Well there you go diplomacy works" She said quite satisfied with her efforts to teach him to be a calmer mammoth.

"I guess you're right" Manny replied baffled at the ease in which he had gotten Sid off of his case and pleased Ellie had forgotten his remark earlier, and pleased that Peaches had stopped tugging his fur. "Don't go too far Sid!" He called to the fast disappearing sloth

"I'm staying way out of ear shot Manny!" Sid called back.

"Good" Manny smiled, this was like having a whole new power with limitless possibilities.

"When have we ever talked about that?" Ellie asked interrupting Manny's happy train of thought –keeping Sid permanently away...

"Uh, I don't know, didn't we?"

"No we didn't"

"Well it's going to be that time of year again and we don't want to be outnumbered by sabers or even possums do we?"

"Or sloths" Ellie added casually

"No chance of that" Manny snorted

"You never know"

"I guess not, but I can hope"

"You don't mean that, you would love more kids in the herd"

"Mammoth kids, to help me with all the other kids I seem to accumulate. Speaking of which maybe I could bring that up casually over breakfast? That reminds me I'm famished"

"Well let's go find some food then" Ellie said playfully punching Manny softly on the shoulder and resisting with all her might not pulling a bit more old fur off. They had not spoken about more kids since Ellie had hated being pregnant with Peaches, she felt that she had missed out on a whole lot of fun during that last adventure. But like most women after giving birth all the misery and horror is soon forgotten.

Peaches trotted over and linked trunks with Ellie, she was curious about all this. "Where do babies come from anyway mum?"

"Heaven honey, I will tell you how they land on earth when you're older"

"So were we angels then?"

"You still are my angel, you forget all that when you land"

"That's sweet where did you learn stuff like that" Manny asked as they walked. Ellie baffled him a bit with how naturally she took to being a parent, he envied her confidence.

"It's what my mother would say to stop us asking about the birds and the bees" Ellie explained. Then added" She always said Crash and Eddie were probably the worst angels around and got kicked out rather than carried down by the stork"

Manny and Peaches exchanged looks "The stork? Where does that fit in?" Manny had to ask...

"Oh she added that bit to explain why I was a bit different from everyone else, the stork you see carries us down from heaven and we grow to the best person and size to suite the journey life takes us on from there. In my case a great big journey"

"Big is beautiful. You can never..."

"Just drop it before you spoil it dear"

"Okay."

They ventured out to some open ground and shovelled through the freshly fallen snow to find food underneath. A lot of the smaller animals had already moved on as summer storms around such high ground could prove treacherous.

"Everyone's moving on, I think it would be a good idea to go too" Manny said as they surveyed what was left of the sweet spring grass under last night's snow storm.

"When Crash and Eddie sort this growing up thing out and come back" Ellie replied with real concern in her tone, she missed them.

"The sooner the better" Manny said remembering the trouble he was in with the local mammoths on top of the diminishing food. He really didn't want to go seeking revenge on the human tribe with them. He hated retaliation and the possibility of Pinkie's tribe being around had began to nag since Sid had mentioned it yesterday.

"How about we lose the winter coat before then" Ellie said spying a good spot for washing in. Up a head there was a good patch of dry dirt sheltered by trees from the snow. Manny walked over and began rolling around in it to lose some of his excess fur.

"You'll never shake it off like that" Ellie giggled "Put some enthusiasm into it!" She rolled around energetically covering herself with snow and dirt. Manny was not going to be out done by Ellie today (plus no one was watching, or so he thought) so started rolling around vigorously, getting right onto his back and even rolling right over. Peaches giggled at how silly her parents looked and joined in the fun. It wasn't often that they just hung out together like this so they took a long and relaxing mud bath, after which Manny looked far worse than when he'd started out. Ellie giggled as she noticed how his excess fur had formed long matted dreadlocks.

"What?" Manny asked

"Ah nothing"

Peaches could not help giggling "tropical daddy"

"What?"

"Rasta' mammoth" Ellie laughed as Manny whipped around to look at himself causing his locks to fly.

"Oh ha ha. So help me pull them off, I guess I'll just be cold"

"But it looks cool dad"

"The ice age is far, far too cool to pull off a look like that. Dread locks and icicles? No it would never work. Maybe if I was younger ..." Manny mused

"So how old are you then" Ellie asked cautiously as curiosity got the better of her.

"Fifteen" Manny replied sheepishly, though he was not sure why. (An equivalent of twenty five in human years. My guess and interoperation only! Even mammoth to human years is made up)

"Not that old then" Ellie said thought fully "When you got grouchy earlier I thought you were forty or something, not that it matters of course"

"I didn't get grouchy, I like hitting Sid you should try. He reacts so dramatically it's funny, and kind of soothing like worry beads or a punch bag or something."

"You seemed upset then" Ellie said thoughtfully "by the subject maybe"

Manny sighed "I eloped when I was far too young, so it is a bit of a touchy subject. I wasn't old or experienced enough to protect my family and my herd told me so constantly. I didn't listen and they were right, sometimes I think I sound like them when I lecture Sid on another one of his stupid plans, I guess I see a lot of myself in him and want to protect him from some of the mistakes I made. Still I have a lot more time to make many more mistakes in though"

"You do just fine relax; both of us share responsibility you know"

"I guess"

"And I am here to take care of both of you" Peaches added, well she was tired of not being the centre of her parents attention and so tactfully waited to put amends to that.

"So you are Honey" Ellie cooed "Let's not forget that and have some fun before headed back"

"So long as that fun involves food" Manny added while brushing off the last of his old coat.

"Wow" Ellie exclaimed as she took in the new buff Manny "Looking hot Manny"

"Thanks, but feeling cold let's get moving already. And I always look hot"

"Yeah? You know now that you mention it I see a lot of Sid in you, funny that I never noticed"

They headed out to search for food under the snow.

* * *

Elsewhere Sid and his team of helpers searched for wild oats amongst the snow covered grasses, herbs and weeds. Sid heard a distant laughing and looked up to see his mammoth friends in the distance rolling about in the dirt and snow. "Ahhhh!" He gasped and quickly averted his eyes in case he witnessed any lovey dovey fluff. "Come on kids I heard that theirs better fare over there, way over there" They scurried off out of earshot of the frolicking herd members.

* * *

Manny, Ellie and Peaches ventured over to where Sid had been foraging earlier.

"Gosh" Ellie exclaimed as she surveyed the desolated grasses "food really is getting a bit thin on the ground"

"We will start gathering the herd and think of moving on, I'm sure your brothers are not far off" Manny said, then mumbled "I'm just not that lucky"

Being lower to the ground Peaches noticed that only the grains on the grasses were missing, the tasty bits "We can still eat the stalks"She said as her tummy rumbled

"Enough for now but that won't last us long, with great size comes great appetites, and I got a coat to replace" Manny said

"Sounding like Sid now" Ellie mumbled.

"Anyway, my point being we need to move on"

"Hopefully my brothers won't be much longer" Ellie sighed

* * *

Eddie finally caught up to the giant snowball. It had crashed into a rock wall and spilt open to reveal, as he had suspected, his brother in the middle of all the chaos. "That Crash, it's always fun, fun, fun with that guy" His jaw however dropped when he saw Emma also sitting amongst the debris. Eddie proceeded with due hast to get to the bottom of this"

"Dude what exactly is going down here?" Eddie demanded.

Crash shook the giddy disorientated feeling from his head and tried to remember how he had come to be here. "She attacked me!" He snapped pointing to Emma

"I was taking a stroll to see the sun rise" Emma slowly explained while shaking some snow from out her ear and thinking of a likely scenario "When **pow**! He booby trapped the branch! I grabbed him, hoping not to fall, but he was too weak and we both fell, then this" She pointed to all the snow around them.

"Oh well sorry then I guess" Eddie said, "Only it looked like you guys were zorbing and you know how I love zorbing. I thought for a minute there..."

Crash cut in "I would never zorb with her bro! Only you, Ellie and peaches you know that!"

"Isn't your sister a mammoth?" Emma asked "Wouldn't she like, squash you?"

Both Eddie and Crash reacted spontaneously "what are you saying about our sis?"

Emma considered her next line carefully; clearly they were very protective of their family "I never got a chance to play with my family" She said with dramatic woe. "Even before they got eaten we were always too poor and anyway I promised my dying father that I would only enjoy fun with my future husband"

Eddie felt bad for insinuating they were having fun without him and paused to drop his ears and tail for a reflective silence. Crash had no time for sad feelings in his life or maybe no real concept of 'sad', or perhaps he had hit his head once too often.

"How can you be too poor to play? And wasn't it your dying mother before? And that is a strange promise to make let alone keep, I mean, I promised my Mum I would be good when I left home. I doubt I have done that even once. Maybe your family just didn't want to have fun with you"

"Crash" Eddie snapped giving his brother a shake for admitting he didn't even try when he had promised mum "This is one of those quiet contemplative moments where you at least shut up for a minute"

"But I'm just not buying it dude, she doesn't even look sad, she just looks angry, as per usual"

Eddie looked over, Emma was still glaring at Crash, it was only him that was being reflective, that made him mad, sad was boring.

Emma saw her opportunity to grab Eddie, family and lying obviously meant a lot to him. "Well I did promise and I meant it, nothing means more to me than family!" She said crossing her fingers

"I didn't lie, in a roundabout kind of way" Crash blurted out in an attempt to dispel Eddie's anger at him "I'm good at practical jokes, I'm good at having fun too, mum should have been more specific when she was asking too much of me"

Eddie giggled despite himself "How about you and me zorb then if Em' here can't play"

Crash, glad that Ed was back on side went for a dramatic kill showing Emma that no one plays his brother like him "I would hate to be the one to explain to little Peaches when she asks where her favourite uncles are that we were too busy playing" he dropped his ears for concerned effect "I had better get back and make sure she is safe and stuff" He said marching off.

"Wait up Crash" Eddie bounced after him leaving an angry Emma to follow.

* * *

Diego finally woke up after a marathon sleep 'must have needed it' he concluded as he realised how long he was out for. He stretched himself out and thought about what to expect; hungry dirty kids; Sid begging forgiveness as he struggled to feed and entertain them and Manny in some unnecessary fix. Well it could all wait till he was ready; he refused to go running to the rescue till he had had a really good wash.

After an hour or so of preening he felt a million dollars again. His cuts and bruises were gone, (after all this is a cartoon) and he had all but forgotten the chaos of the last couple of days. He marched out to find everyone.

Everything was quiet, peaceful even. Sid sat with the cubs around his usual fire with a bucket of slop simmering away; it was all very homely, nice even. If you liked that kind of family thing of course and Diego quickly reminded himself that he didn't, besides both the mammoths and the possums were missing so all was not entirely well in the herd. He ventured over.

"Hey Diego long time no see" Sid said looking over and inviting his friend to join his happy group "Come on I've saved you some" using conveniently shaped leaves for bowls Sid slopped out some hot porridge for his friend and set it down beside him ushering everyone to shove up and make room.

Diego eyed the space suspiciously. Then he eyed the bowl of scentless wallpaper paste set in front of him. He then eyed the cubs sitting down quietly and eating their slop without protest and finally finished by eyeing Sid and how seemingly unstressed he was. Something fishy was going on here and he didn't like it.

"Gathered these wild oats this morning" Sid explained with a full mouth "Took ages to Roll and cook them. There might be a bit of hair in it thanks to Manny but I've picked the most of it out, oh I almost forgot" Sid threw in a few berries and stirred them in "Cranberries; good for everything you know. One day these babies will be hailed as a super food and I plan to have soul rights to them"

As the berries warmed in the hot porridge they began to emit a sweet, rich scent. Diego had to admit it actually smelt (almost) nice, but something was really wrong. _'The porridge smells nice, yet Sid is sitting right beside me; still the porridge smells nice, but Sid is right beside me'_ "Sid why can't I smell you? What happened?" Diego demanded.

"First Manny dumps me in the snow now there you go with the insults, really Diego I would have expected that kind of behaviour from the possums! It would have been nice to have a civil morning for once, but I guess that that is just too much to ask from this herd" Sid tutted and paused to sip delicately from a (cup shaped leaf complete with floral print) cup of tea before explaining "We bathed last night before bed if you must know, I am teaching the kids etiquette"

"You, washed?" Diego said shocked. He didn't believe it but Sid was clean, and the cubs were spotless well their spots and blotches were spotless. "That's got to be a first" Diego started wondering if this really was Sid...

"Second actually, I took a bath with soap when I had my last family so there I do wash"

"Evidently, just not nearly as often as you need to"

Manny approached the happy scene glad he hadn't missed an opportunity to pick on Sid and proud to show off his new spring coat "Yep that's it for Sid and soap till next year, probably just needed to water his fungus garden"

Everyone turned to see the new improved Manny who couldn't help striking a pose to show-off his lack of waist line.

Well I was going to say 'Looking smooth' Manfred but you can forget it now" Sid muttered unimpressed "Shame you can't brush up your people skills as easily. Just goes to show no shiny new hair cut can sugar coat a mean personality like yours"

"It's Like an alternative lean and clean herd" Diego said looking from Manny to Sid and back again, "So where'd the poof go?"

"When I said it was the fur, I meant it was the fur" Manny stated.

"So no more fat jokes then" Diego said, "shame"

"Ah and no more threatening to sit on me" Sid cried

"So are we are going to have to reinvent ourselves or what?" Diego said before thinking "What am I saying, you guy's will never keep this up. Sid you've already spilled slop down your front"

"No surprise there" Manny added

"Hey I'm just as clean as everyone else here!" Sid took in the stifled sniggers from his herd mates. Suddenly a rare and unusual sense of pride welled up inside of him, so he got on his soap box and began a scathing rant "After six weeks your fur becomes self cleaning I'll have you know; so although I don't wash all through the depths of freezing winter I still see more bath water per year than either of you two smart mouths! Covering one's self in spit Diego hardly counts as good hygiene and Manny rolling around in the mud is actually dirty! Yep I saw you pal! Sometimes I feel a bit disgusted hanging with you dirt bags, but do I make fun of your lack of cleanliness? No because I am so much bigger than that"

"Tongue, cleanest part of the body" Diego stated dryly

"And everyone knows that a mud bath is good for the skin"

"Maybe Manny but the difference your **one** dirt bath has made causing you to be near unrecognisable, till you open your mouth of course, leads me to believe that your poof was actually dirt lost in all that fur"

"Well Sid you don't see me scratching with flees all day long so I'm cleaner than you fungus fur. In fact your fleas are cleaner than you"

"Hardly" Sid sniffed, "Fleas and lice are only attracted to clean fur,that is why you don't itch. I suggest you both partake in the Sid's school of basic hygiene as this herds standards are clearly going to the dogs. If you guys ever want to get with a girl you are both going to have to brush up and start washing properly"

"I already got Ellie Sid, it's you who is still desperately single"

"Never too late for divorce my friend all it takes is for a better and less muddy guy to walk by"

Manny looked at Ellie who was hiding from Sid in the background. Ellie shrugged, well that blue mammoth that appeared after the melt down wasn't half bad, wasn't half as muddy... "Oh Manny" She snapped back to the moment "Personality, no one could uh... be as thought full and brave as you are"

"You guys are only together thanks to me so it doesn't even count anyway" Sid mumbled turning his attention to Diego

"Why would I want to get with a girl, I've got everything I need right here and I am not stupid enough to not see that" Diego said a bit annoyed.

"That's sweet Diego, but I am not going to be here forever for you so some day you will need a new best friend"

"I meant freedom Sid, I don't need any ball and chain holding me back, but even if you were the sole reason for my existence, which you're not I like Manny way more, where are you going to go? Realistically?"

"The sloth mating dance starts soon actually; and I feel like I'm really in there with a chance this year"

"I would look worried but my lying skills aren't up to it, so this look of whatever will have to suffice" Diego turned to leave

"You're not partaking again then I take it"

"Nope, and nor should you. You really haven't got time to muck up a relationship as well as all these kids lives; and the deal was you do all the work from now on"

"Oh yeah my kids, I almost forgot I promised we would learn to swim today"

"In water?" Diego stopped dead in his tracks.

"Duh, what else?" Sid said while leading his kids off. "Come on guys let's leave these stinkers and go have some fun already"

Peaches ears perked up at the word fun "Mum can we go with them? Pleeeaaase"

"In a moment hon" Ellie said more concerned with the other herd members.

Diego watched the cubs bounce off after Sid without protest. Something had changed in Sid maybe this year he would find love, get very dull and settle down. Then this sitting and eating and family rubbish would be the normal everyday routine with no room or need for adventure... Well he would not become domesticated; he would leave before that happened.

Ellie noticed the glum tiger flick over his bowl of food without having touched it

"You feeling ok?" She asked tentatively.

'_No' _Diego thought_,_ "yep" he growled in reply

Ellie could not understand why Diego had to be so brooding all the time. Peaches looked at her mother understanding now that a tense situation had occurred. Ellie looked at Manny "Do something" she mouthed silently.

"Uh why don't you two catch up with Sid and I'll see you later tonight?" Many said to Ellie as he saw this as a golden opportunity to go looking into this human tribe without putting her or Peaches in danger.

"What are you not coming?" Ellie asked disappointed. Peaches face fell too.

"I need to talk to Diego about a few things if you don't mind"

Ellie nodded and left with Peaches to catch up with Sid.

"So..." Manny began awkwardly; well he had to be concerned now so Diego wouldn't guess that he had been used to get rid of Ellie "Things alright between you and Sid?" Manny so hoped Diego wouldn't feel like talking. He held his breath and closed his eyes in case he actually did as there was no getting away now.

Diego was a bit miffed before, but now he was totally peeved that Manny had taken advantage of his sulk to get rid of Ellie. Still he wasn't so angry to actually talk about his fears of Sid getting totally boring, like Manny. "Don't know what you're talking about" he replied dismissively. "Things alright with you and Ellie only you seemed to want to get away from her" He added with a smirk knowing Manny would hate him for that.

Manny cringed "Yeah, sure things are good..."

"Good" Diego added quickly not wanting to hear anymore.

"I've been thinking about moving on soon" Manny said changing the subject to a more comfortable topic. "That ok with you?"

"Yeah it's about time" Diego said thinking that this would get everyone back focussed on adventure again, after all that is what this herd was meant to be all about. "Ah" he tutted as he remembered his own commitments "I have to get rid of the kids first. Honestly she said three days forever ago, I don't know what's happened"

"Shame," Manny mused "Sid seems so happy"

"They are still going back" Diego replied with venom, gosh Manny sounded as soft as Ellie there.

"I was just saying as I think we will need to prepare for an upset sloth soon" Manny said in a more manly voice.

"He'll get over it, or find some other poor animal to replace them with"

"We need to wait for the possums anyway, so no rush" Manny said as he thought about looking for some small inoffensive animal which he could use to replace Sid's cubs with, maybe ants?

As Manny thought Diego started to stalk off.

"Hey where are you going?" Manny called concerned that he was going to have to wait for Diego as well as the possums before he could find more food.

"Uh" Diego was about to say hunting but remembered himself in time "To look for Sara so she can have her dumb kids back of course" He lied and disappeared off on his own to hunt for the first time in ages.

Manny waited till Diego was out of sight and set out to find the humans, he would have liked the tigers company but worried too much that he might fall off a cliff or something again so didn't ask.

* * *

Sid marched with the cubs in tow down to the lake nearby. Suddenly Peaches came bounding up behind them. As she over took the cubs she shouted "last one in is a banana!" and stuck her tongue out at Steve for good measure.

"I'm going to get her" Steve growled and ran after her.

The other cubs felt the thrill of the chase and ran too leaving Sid behind calling after them "No running! Wait!"

Once started the chase became obsessive, all that mattered was the hunt. Being bigger and with a longer stride Steve led the cubs, closing the Gap between himself and Peaches with each stride. Peaches was sure that she would make it to the water in time and even slowed down a bit to tease him.

"Come on Sid!" Ellie said running up and scooping Sid up for a lift as she raced by "We'll get left behind!"

"You have to stop her!" Sid wailed "Rule number one when swimming you don't run by the pool!"

"Relax, what could happen?" Ellie said

"They will all slip and... well the rest doesn't even bear thinking about"

"Hold on Sid we're nearly there, look your little Snowball is going to win!"

Steve nearly had her, Peaches gasped and sped up when she realised how close he was but the water was so close she could see it now, all frozen and snow covered! She began to lose her nerve. Steve smiled with delight "So who's a banana now?" he jeered knowing that she had no where now to hide.

"Eek!" squeaked Peaches and speed up all that she could.

Ellie over took the saber cubs "No running!" Sid shouted at them as he passed.

"But you are!" Isla shouted back

"And you're going way too fast you will hit the ice and slip breaking your head right open!" Breezy added

Sid looked at the frozen lake fast approaching "Ellie stop! Kids stop!"

Ellie laughed as she neared Steve and Peaches "We are going to win this!"

Steve was now running beside Peaches he was ready to make his move. Peaches swerved out of his way so he couldn't trip her.

Steve pounced instead.

Peaches leapt.

Ellie jumped to overtake.

Sid slid off Ellie's back caught Steve mid pounce and landed safely on the shore.

Peaches gasped as she realised she had nothing but hard cold ice to land on

Ellie shouted "Dive bomb!" and smashed through the ice with a mighty splash

Peaches landed with a soft splash in the water, both mammoths surfaced giggling.

Sid sat Steve down and spread his arms as the slower smaller cubs caught up "Okay that's close enough" he said catching them before they fell into the water

"Ellie! No dive bombing! This is a serious lesson, and Snowball what were you thinking?" Sid scolded.

"She started it" Steve whined

"I thought we were all having fun Sid" Ellie said feeling a bit like another one of Sid's charges.

"No we are learning to swim" Sid corrected her "Now come on kids this way" He led the cubs off to a dry spot by the shore. "Okay this looks like a good spot for our first lesson" Sid said while clearing away the snow from a flat boulder which he would use as a board.

"But there's no water" Tala said confused

"Everything starts in the class room" Sid explained "Once we have mastered the 'theory' of swimming in the 'safety' of the class room then we will undertake the 'practical' side of our lessons out there in the real world, but only when we are all ready" Sid said -quite sternly.

"But yesterday we were already doing it" Tala whined as the mammoths started to play with small bobbing icebergs created from smashing into the lake

"Can't we just skip this boring bit and get onto the fun part already?" Her sister Isla added

"Patience!" Sid told them, "You need patience! Anything else would be to jump in at the deep end and well, let me show you what would happen" Sid found a bit of chalk and drew a Two dimensional swimming pool which started shallow then got deeper and deeper, and deeper still as it went on. "So this shallow end we will label 'good' and the deep end over here we will label 'bad'. Now this little guy can be any one of you fella's" Sid drew a cub to give the whole diagram a sense of scale. "And he is here at the 'good' end of the pool"

Everyone's eyes went over to the mammoths as Peaches giggles were imposable to ignore; Ellie had just sculpted a shark out of ice and was using it to chase Peaches with. Peaches screamed with hysterics as Ellie's shark came up from under her scooping her up out of the water and bobbed around freely with the waves they had both created. "

"Try and hold on!" Ellie said as she pushed the floating ice and Peaches around chasing small fish pretending to eat them "**Dun-dum, dun-dum, dun–dum, munch!**"

"Ellie do you think you could keep it down? Your very distracting" Sid called

"Sorry Sid, Dun-dum, dun-dum, dun-dum, munch!" Ellie whispered. Peaches giggled quietly.

"Now" Sid said tapping of his claw on the diagram like a pointer "Why is the shallow end the 'good' end do you think?" He looked around to find his class was still watching the mammoths "Look here kids! Ignore those two"

"But that looks like fun" Breezy whined

"Is it because that end is totally boring?" Zan huffed impatient that they should move this lesson on.

"**Look"** Sid shouted to get everyone facing him again "It is because you can safely reach the bottom! Very important unless you can swim, if you can't see the bottom never go in" Sid could see that he was losing what little attention he had so added some drama to his diagram "because if you can't see the bottom then it maybe that too many monsters are lurking down there" Sid drew in some big ugly shapes with many eyes and sharp teeth "Or perhaps it might be so deep it might not have a bottom at all!" Sid smirked as the sharp gasps confirmed that he had everyone's attention at last.

Peaches glanced over at Sid's monsters with big teeth and gasped too looking down at the innocent little fish below her feet and wondered what else was down in those murky depths.

"Sid you're scaring everyone" Ellie said as her game with Peaches was ruined

"Ellie they have to learn and this is safer than exposing them to the real thing"

"Mum can we get out of the water now?" Peaches whined

Steve smirked pleased that Peaches game was now spoilt "These monsters don't look so tough to me, do you think we can eat them?

The other kids stared in awe at his bravery before deciding that they were not scared of wobbly drawings either.

"Yeah they Look like sushi to me" Ari joked

"Sure you can defeat them" Sid explained "Manny knows all too well how to outsmart monsters, so long as you can swim! Now let's start with the basics, once you are sure the waters not too deep, you can step in" Sid pretended to step into a pool "now slowly venture out deeper always keeping an eye on the shore and safe shallows, cause once you're in and swimming all you can see is water so remember where safety is at all times kids. Now you're stepping out and you want to walk like you are hunting prey like this, but breathe like this! and stalk like this, and claw the water like this and now I am swimming and breathing and remembering and looking!"

The cubs began to giggle at how daft Sid looked.

"I'd rather look stupid here in the safety of the class room than out there in the real world" Sid scolded them. A solemn silence followed. "Now it's your turn kids come on, it's easy like your stalking prey"

"But we can't stalk" Zan confessed as the only time he had ever tried with Diego he had fallen over more often than not.

"Then claw!" Sid commanded still miming his swimming actions

"Can't claw either" Lars said while inspecting this new action

"Hunt?" Sid tried

"Nope, not really" Breezy said

"We did kind of" Aden said remembering their various attempts with Manny "Not like that though, more like with ropes and stuff"

"What has Diego been doing with you all this time? Right, from the top then!" Sid commanded "Everyone copy me!" They made a line and copied Sid not caring that they looked stupid till they all got it right.

Finally Sid felt confident that they were ready and took them into the water and real swimming slowly got mastered by each one.

Ellie was still up on the shore convincing Peaches that there were no monsters in the water because her daddy had thrown them all far out to sea and they were far too scared to ever return. She looked over to see Sid with his swimming kids "Very professional work there Sid"

"Yep I always wanted a swim school you know, 'Squids kids!' I never got time what with one thing and another"

"Well you're a natural"

"I know, I just wish Manny was here so I could tell him I told you so" Sid sighed

"So anyway, do you want to come have a proper yummy mummy afternoon?" Ellie asked.

"Huh?" Sid asked

"You know lunch and chat while this lot plays in the park" Ellie explained

"Oooo sounds fun! Cool I could do with a break" Sid said excited

"Let's go then" Ellie led them off for what was shaping up to be the best day of Sid's parenting life.

* * *

Thanx for reading, hopefully my next update won't take so long but I am the king of bad luck lately!


	14. a guilty conscience

A bit rushed so expect mistakes, sorry but I had to up date before I popped!

Most oc's are throw away characters so don't worry about who's who too much... I really can't remember either and I don't own anything! –at least anything worth owning.

* * *

Sid and Ellie walked to a pretty playground where mums and kids of all species, shapes, sizes and ages sat drinking, snaking and playing. They picked a quiet spot and sat down.

Having swum all morning the cubs stretched out and sat quietly talking.

"I wonder what it is going to be like when my teeth are as long as tusks" Tala pondered out loud.

"I just can't wait to be as big as Manny" said her sister Isla "I wonder if I will be able to throw sea monsters around too"

"Of course we will" Aden said with some confidence "We will be big and strong enough to rule the world"

"I just want a longer tail" said Zan, "and may be warmer fur, even if it does look poofy"

"You're lucky that you get all these things anyway" Isla said to Peaches "Because eating all this super food is kind'a hard work"

"Lucky?" Steve said "She IS food, she needs all these things just to survive us"

"So what is she going to do when we have all these powers too?"

"Don't talk like that!" Breezy snapped "Peaches is our friend, not food"

"Strength is not just about size and strength" Peaches said "It's about smarts too you know!"

"Shame you've not them either then isn't it" Steve sneered at her

"Actually..." Peaches began, but hesitated, she was about to boast of her triumph over a pack of full grown sabers when she remembered that they were her friends parents and she had forgotten to tell anyone like her dad about the predicament that she had left them in... She felt more than a little uneasy at this.

"It's about having big teeth and other cool weapons too" Tala said not noticing Peaches tremble slightly beside her "And so long as Peaches is our friend we will work together so we can all have fun"

Steve didn't miss a beat, he saw how Peaches was feeling very uneasy about something, '_so she might not be so perfect after all'_ he thought _'I will have to find out what her secret is, maybe it will be a weakness I can use'_

"Good" Breezy said satisfied "In this pack we should look out for each other and be friends forever"

"And we will because we are going to be the biggest, baddest pack in the world ever and no one is going to be able to defeat us" Said Ari striking a macho pose

"Defeat us?" Zan asked looking for foes

"Well stop us then" Ari said to put his little half brother at ease

"Who wants stop us? And why?" Zan asked still confused.

"Well..." Ari hadn't thought this far "Stop us from having fun I suppose" he finished lamely

"Cool" Zan said satisfied "When we are all powerful then we will play all day" He yawned

"Yeah, all day" Tala said stretching and noticing that quite a few of her siblings were already napping. She yawned, stretched again and curled up to join them in wonderful dreams of hugeness.

Peaches felt too uneasy to sleep, she noticed Steve was only pretending to sleep while watching her intently. She felt even more uncomfortable at this and wandered over to her mum and Sid. She thought about telling them about the sabers trapped in the pit but they were already so engrossed in their own conversation that she decided maybe not. Maybe she would tell them later when Steve wasn't watching. She curled up between Ellie's fore legs and wished that both Steve and this horrible predicament would just go away.

A couple of aardvarks commented as they passed how well behaved Sid and Ellie's kids were. Sid glowed with pride, he was just so good at this parenting thing, Ellie smiled modestly at the compliment and Peaches cowered further from view.

"Still" One of the aardvarks continued to the other "odd couple wouldn't you say?"

"Oh I thought they were both female!" The other replied.

Ellie let tried not to giggle, but remembering Manny's comment earlier she found she couldn't help herself; Sid really did look like a butternut squash.

"Ahem!" Sid said as his already deflated pride took a further knock at seeing Ellie looking at his somewhat curvy or, heavy hips. "That is where I store my winter fat actually!"

"Well it's funny how it all bunches up in one place like that" Ellie said trying to pry her eyes from his bottom, "Oh no my mistake it stores on your arms too..."

"That's muscle!"

"?..." Ellie changed subject fast "anyway what I was going to say was... remember those eggs you found? Well before they hatched and they were just, well, eggs..."

"They had names" Sid commented.

"Yes"

"And faces"

"I think you drew them on..."

"And feelings when you got to know them"

"So anyway what was it about those eggs that you loved so much?"

"Wow, finally someone wants to know" Sid sighed "Usually it's me who's the sensitive one in the herd when it comes to unsaid feelings and such"

"Really?" Ellie said more than a bit surprised "I kind of got the idea it was Diego"

"Hardly! He was the mushy one, now he's just emo. I think he misses his scheming and stuff, then again..."

"The eggs Sid, one thing at a time"

"Oh yeah, well I could project my own feelings on them, you know make them the perfect family that would never get tired of my jokes and want to have a girlfriend, move on and stuff; and probably abandon me like my first family, then Manny..."

"So you thought that I was going to take your herd away" Ellie mused as the pieces finally fell into place, Sid did not want to be alone again and with Manny spending more and more time with her then he must have dreaded being left out completely; thus he found an inanimate object which would never leave him to be his family "you must have hated me" She said imagining how low Sid must have felt to be pushed to such extremes.

"Na" Sid said waving a claw dismissively "Your too cute to hate what with being mad an' all; and Manny deserved to be happy. It's just, well, me and Diego didn't really see how we were going to fit in with Manny's new life; so I did the decent thing and got my own family so Manny could feel better about moving on from ours"

"Only you couldn't have done it in anymore a dramatic way" Ellie said remembering Sid's 'lone lonely loner' speech.

"Not the sharpest tool in the old box our Manny, I had to you know, over emphasize a bit to make sure he understood that it was alright to move on, to grow, to be happy! Evolve!"

"So you knew that they were just eggs then?"

"Yeah, I'm not crazy! I haven't seen my imaginary friends or anything for ages now. Those eggs, they were just a um, coping tool. I never expected them to actually hatch into dinos and take us all on death defying adventure through a hidden underground world" Sid said remembering how exhausting all that had been. "That turned out to be one cool weekend"

"It was" Ellie smiled "Are you ok now? You know with me and Manny, now that you know we're not going to abandon you "

"Sure" Sid lied as he could never be centre enough of everyone's attention really "Your way better than Manny ever was and now that I am finally getting a chance to prove to everyone how superior my parenting skills are I couldn't be happier. Wow this is just like being a real parent talking about emotional stuff like this"

"Yeah I guess, sorry to be so boring, shall we do something a bit more fun?"

"Uh my lazy kids are still too tired from swimming" Sid moaned

"I have the perfect remedy" Ellie reached up into a tree and pulled down a large nut, she bashed it on the ground to open it up and reveal its contents –coffee beans.(I presume they grow on trees) "We just grind these up like so and sprinkle them with sugar in hot water..." She explained to Sid while smashing the beans into a fine grit like consistency under her foot.

"Oh I knew my cooking set would come in handy!" Sid whipped out his pot and made a fire to make hot drinks with. "So how's things going between you and Manny? Married life all you hopped it would be? Cause I could help if it's not I am quite a skilled relationship doctor" Sid said casually while pouring out a few strong espresso's.

"Oh things are just fine" Ellie said taking a sip "... He does worry a bit tough. Like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders or something"

"Tell me about it!" Sid chuckled "He never stopped! Like back when..."

"And it's not just now and then; it's all the time!" Ellie continued while sipping some more coffee "I wish he would learn to relax a bit"

"Uh huh, like when I first met him, he didn't even know me and still..."

"And the macho man hero thing! Protecting us from everything! Everything!"

"I like that about him..."

"Even twigs pose some sort of threat! I mean can he not just sometimes give it a rest already?"

"Ok your making me jealous now" Sid snatched Ellie's cup away "Come on kids life's too short for sleeping have some wake up juice before Ellie drinks it all and chews my ear off!"

"Sorry, that's a good pot" Ellie said sheepishly noticing how much of the bottom of it she could now see .

"I know I'm just too good at everything I put my hand to, can't help it..." Sid said modestly

"And sorry, I shouldn't moan, Manny's great an all but sheesh! he does get a bit much"

"Yep that's our Manny, probably worrying about something back at camp right now, -like not taking a bath so long as he lives" Sid muttered.

* * *

Manny wandered along looking for signs of humans. He could find nothing. He did however find a few female mammoths out grazing. He remembered seeing them in Big Mick's herd and decided to ask if they could point him in the right direction for trouble.

"Uh hello" He said as he approached the little group interrupting their conversation

"Why hello" The she-moths said enthusiastically eyeing up the rather fit looking polite male "Manny isn't it?"

"Not 'mad Manny, who lives with his enemy' Manny?" Said a pudgy purple female suspiciously

"Yep" Manny sighed "that's the one"

"So how's that work?" The purple she-moth asked with much interest

"Err... great actually. For a predator Diego's a really nice guy"

"Oh" Ms Purple she-moth said surprised "Well who'd have guessed?"

"How about that?" her roan friend said "and here's our husbands a bunch of stubborn, big headed, wilful, arrogant, not to mention..." She ranted continuing on from their previous conversation before Manny had arrived.

"honestly" Ms purple said apologetically for her friend before explaining their gripe to a bewildered Manny "We want to move on as the pasture in the next valley is said to be twice as lush as it is here but will those men listen? They are only concerned with stamping out every predator, human and probable mythical beasty that moves. They can be imposable sometimes"

"We will no doubt starve before they see sense and leave be" Ms Roan wailed

"Maybe we should swap them for cats instead" an orange hued she-moth suggested reducing her girl friends to giggles.

"At least we would get a better conversation!" Ms Purple cackled.

"He is great to talk to actually" Manny said amidst the girls laughter "He's always there, quietly concerned about how I'm feeling"

"Ooooo" The girls said in awed unison

"But isn't 'it' dangerous?" Ms Purple asked still suspicious.

"Diego? Dangerous?"Manny scoffed "No he's a real softy, even Sid the Sloth can push him over and give him noogies"

"Is that right?" The girls looked at each other

"follows me loyally" Manny continued "Even across a field full of active geysers without complaining, go figure huh"

"Oooo" the girls swooned

"crys a bit though"

"sigh!" The she-moths chattered to one another "Nothing wrong with being in touch with ones feminine side", "Shows great understanding that's all"

"Even a sad picture can set him off" Manny added "And again when my daughter was born" It dawned on Manny how much Diego openly cared for the herd while still coming across as quite macho. Manny decided that maybe he would take Ellie's advise and try show a bit more of his caring side without fearing that he looked like a sissy, after all such displays of emotion were highly appreciated by these females who had now changed their tune completely about sabers.

"Girls we need a cat" Ms Purple said decidedly

"Can't think of the last time we saw one though" Ms roan sighed, "Those flaming husbands of ours keep chasing them off"

"Honestly good for nothing those men!"

"Especially that big old good for nothing Mick" Ms Purple said spitefully "Got it in his head to start another crusade, it's against the humans this time and all the others are so quick to follow him, hooligans!"

"Anyway" Manny said quickly "I was looking to find the human herd do you know which way they are camped?"

"Oh not you too!" Ms Purple sighed "and here I thought you were different!"

"I have a young friend who might be in the humans herd" Manny explained "I have to warn him if I can before it's too late"

"That is so noble" Ms Roan gasped

"and brave!" Said another she-moth

"and darn sweet!" Ms Purple said pleased, "why you're nothing like our mean mammoths! The humans tribes that way" She pointed the wrong way (never ask a woman directions) "but do be careful! Humans are very dangerous creatures"

The she-moths watched as Manny left."Does he have a mate?" Ms Roan asked.

"Yeah that mad girl who likes speed and crazy sports" Ms Purple answered."Not good enough for a gentle soul like him I dare say"

"No one is" Ms Roan sighed

* * *

The possums wandered around lost.

"You must remember the way back Eddie" Crash whined "You only came this way the other day!"

"But it's snowed since then and I wasn't paying attention to where we were going because Diego's kids were fighting, so sorry but I don't know where Ellie is!" Eddie whined exhausted "Maybe if you had just stayed put so I didn't have to come looking for you we wouldn't be here lost in the first place" He said to Crash with more than a smidge of bitter accusation.

"And maybe if you hadn't lost my Sister, my only friend and family" Emma snapped adding to the blame already building up on Crash's shoulders "We could have used her to track down your herd and be there already"

"Wah, wah, wah! cry me a river babe" Crash replied, "If your sister was that good at tracking she would have tracked you down by now, unless of course if she'd rather not find you! I might just have liberated her from a fate worse than insufferable boredom i.e. you!"

"And perhaps that is why we can't find your sister!" Emma snapped back, "Maybe she took her opportunity to get shot of you, you whining, ungrateful, stupid little boy!"

"Shut up all of you!" Eddie cried out "Possums rule! And no one lucky enough to somehow have possums in there extended family would ever even think about doing a runner on them. The reason we can't find anyone is because we have been walking around in circles, look I have found our own tracks and some wolf ones so your sister is all right Emma; but we are still miles away from Ellie so tomorrow we will find everyone and everything will be cool!"

"Tomorrow? Why wait till then when we can walk all night" Crash said

"No way!" Emma whined "We have been walking all day and I'm tired and hungry... and tired" Emma said wishing her sister was here to carry her

"And cold!" Eddie said wishing his sister was here with her lovely thick warm coat to carry him "I wonder what everyone's doing right now?"

"Pinning for us of course" Crash said imagining how dull life in the herd without their practical jokes probably was.

"Doubt it" Emma muttered as the three of them stumbled on.

* * *

Sid and Ellie with the kids in tow wandered over to a frozen stream where parents and kids were ice skating.

"Let's skate" Sid said

"But isn't that deep water under there?" Breezy asked suspiciously, she was unsure how well her claws were going to go down on the ice.

"Yeah wasn't there a rule about deep water?" Tala murmured

"You can swim now so all those rules no longer apply" Sid said high on coffee and enthusiasm

"Let's make this really fun and race!" Ellie said still high on caffeine too "Come on! Last one to the other..."

"No enough racing already!" Sid said holding up a stone that he had just found "We should play a proper game, like ice hockey!"

"Oh a real family bonding game! I like the sound of that, lets pick teams! Peaches is with me!" Ellie snatched a gloomy feeling Peaches over to her side.

"Snowball's with me!" Sid said snatching the cub over

"Who shall we pick next Peaches?" Ellie asked trying to get Peaches interest up

"Uh, Breezy?" Peaches answered in a quiet voice

"Steve who shall we have?" Sid said as he realised he still didn't know all the names yet.

"I think we should have girls vs. boys" Steve replied with an evil grin _'Then we will defiantly win' _he thought

"Good idea!" Sid said patting the cub on the head "Let's get some goal posts and huddle"

The two sides huddled up at opposite sides of the pitch

"Right" said Sid "We need a captain, that will be me, a defence and an attack team. We need to each take a separate area of the pitch to work so nothing is left open, kids we have to win this"

"I don't understand?" Ari whined "It's just a dumb stone what's the point?"

"The point?" Sid said "The point is to win, imagine this stone is an antelope, a really wylie, slidey, antelope, the other team is another pack who also want this tasty treat and the goals are um, safe territories which you can ambush and eat your prey in. Now as a pack you have to chase the prey away from your enemies grasp and into your own trap"

The cubs nodded as they understood that this was hunting practice.

Over at team Ellie, "Okay girls the aim of this game is to score as many goals as we can by shooting that stone into their goal, I will be defending our goal to stop them from doing the same to us. Remember the aim is to have fun! So pass the stone to each other so everyone gets a fair turn and let's enjoy this!"

The girls stumbled out onto the slippery cold ice to play feeling a bit uninspired, the boys met them half way between the goals looking seriously determined in their expressions despite the fact that that were struggling to even stand for more than two steps on the ice. Sid had put the smallest cub Zan in goal and set the bigger ones in attack positions up front with himself as main shooter as well as ref.

"Sid you can't play it all for them" Ellie protested

"Fine let them lose it then" Sid sulked his way to the back "I'll just manage from the goal for a bit"

A slow, clumsy game in sued with the boys playing rough and dirty shoving the girls out of the way but failing to get the stone passed Ellie. Peaches, despite not really playing got shoved hard by Steve as he and his team dominated the pitch_._ She slipped out on the ice away from the pitch on her chin with a frown like her father would wear. As Ellie watched her slide away Steve got a goal in passed her

"_That stupid boy!" _Peaches thought feeling riled.

"Half time!" Ellie called to give Peaches a chance to get back to the pitch

"Good going kids we've got this in the bag!" Sid said congratulating his team on the only goal

"We are losing?" The girl cubs looked at each other bemused

"Yeah our packs way better than yours!" Steve jeered

"What about when we said we were a team forever?" Aida asked her brother Ari who looked sad that his sister wasn't winning too.

"Things change losers!" Steve laughed.

Peaches stopped moping. Skating over to where the stone sat behind Ellie, she hit the little rock so hard it flew across the pitch and scored a goal while Sid sat scratching his rump

"Ahh!" Sid screamed "You can't shoot from the back of the pitch! And it's still half time!"

"We were practicing!" Ellie said apologetically, "Peaches not so hard remember this is a game"

"No it's not" Ari said wobbling over to the girls side to sit with his sister "its hunting practice to learn pack skills"

"So it's important we win then" Aida said "As traditionally we girls do all the hunting so we need to be the best"

"In our pack we will all hunt" Ari reassured her "The ice is so slippery, maybe this is a stupid practice anyway"

"You guys just need to learn to skate" Peaches said "Stop trying to grip the ice with those claws and just balance as you slide" She demonstrated by skating gracefully around in a circle. The girl cubs and Ari watched and learned

"We can do that" Aida said "We are good at balancing"

"That's the spirit girls" Ellie smiled "Now let's have fun!"

The kids reassembled into their teams to play only this time the girls skated around the boys to get at the stone.

"How did they get good so quick?" Steve moaned as the game suddenly got hard

"By tucking their claws in and skating" Ari explained

Steve watched as without claws Ari could glide along quite fast while his own claws gripped the ice erratically making small scratches and deterring him from moving forward. _'Hmmm'_ He thought as he pushed hard with one claw to cut through the ice completely "Let's see them skate around this then" He said as he began cutting a hole to make a trap.

"No" Ari said standing up to the bigger cub "It's just practice!"

Steve took no notice till he heard a crack "Uh- oh" He said as he saw lines branching out from his trap and going all around his goal and further out over the lake.

Everything went quiet till the cracking finally stopped.

Sid was now free floating on his own little island bobbing around. Behind him other parents with kids were in the same predicament. Luckily no one had fallen in but many were grumbling that the rink was now ruined.

"I'd like to see her score now" Steve said sheepishly like he had meant for that to happen.

Peaches was always up for a challenge and chipped the rock so that it skimmed across the water went through Sid's goal posts, bounced up off of a tortoise looking animals shell, flew back towards them while gaining height and finally came hurtling down hard enough to crack what ice had remained in tacked.

Again silence fell till all became stable again and everyone sighed with relief as they all found themselves safe on ice floats and not in the drink.

"I think that that's enough for today guys" Ellie said grabbing a few of the kids and making for a strategic exit "let's call it a draw and go home"

"Okay" Sid said as he paddled his way back to land as quick as he could well aware that the park was now full of angry parents looking their way. "Come on kids, last one back to camps a rotten banana"

* * *

Diego sat waiting for prey under cover of an outcrop of rocks. Nothing came by; it was like everyone had migrated already. So he prowled around a bit looking for prey. He chased a few antelope but caught nothing. He needed to ambush something, but nothing presented itself. He thought about trying to take down a really big bad looking fella, but with no one to impress he decided why risk it? After what seemed like ages Diego headed back to camp hungry, at least there was company there, out here he was getting lonely.

* * *

Manny walked for ages without finding a single trace of human activity. Then out of the blue he came across some quail eggs in a nest under a bunch of tulip flowers. He decided to do something nice for his friends and picked up the eggs and flowers to bring back, if Diego wasn't afraid to show his caring side than neither would he be. He headed back looking forward to seeing his friends faces light up with these gifts. He was pleased to find Ellie and Sid already back and sitting around a fire with the kids preparing food.

"Nice day?" He asked as he nuzzled up to his wife

"Yes, you missed some fun" Ellie said pleased Manny was back safe

"I bet, there's never a dull moment with Sid"

"Yep king of fun that is me, unless you were being sarcastic! I bet you were, in that case you are so wrong!" Sid said.

"Me? No. look I know I'm a bit hard on you Sid" Manny said smiling "So I got you this" he gave Sid the tiny eggs that he had found

"For me?" Sid took them carefully "Thanks why that's so nice"

"You know" Manny explained "for when Diego's kids have to go back, I know how you like family so I thought you could draw some little faces on them and... and... Sid what are you doing?"

Sid had wandered back to his cooking pot and broken the eggs into the boiling water "Why poaching them of course"

"But I thought you liked eggs" Manny said confused "Why are those egg different from the others?

"Well those eggs had names and faces these ones didn't"

"But you just drew them on!"

"Did I now?"

Ellie and Manny exchanged glances _'he is crazy?'_ Manny wondered , _'Worse' _Ellie implied.

"Anyway" Manny said moving on quickly "I brought these back for my favourite girls" he pulled out a gigantic bunch of tulips

"Wow you shouldn't have" Ellie said while munching through them with speed.

"It's nothing, well now it's nothing" Manny said as they were now gone.

"So what you been up to?" Ellie asked with her mouth full

"Nothing much talked to Diego walked a bit, how about you?"

"Fun, you know" She tried but failed to talk any more while eating

"Nothing too dangerous I hope" Manny muttered

"Now would I?" Ellie grinned

Diego returned to find everyone happily chatting and eating which instantly upset him as he had spent the day bored and lonely

"Hey Diego" Sid called "watch'a been up to?"

"Can't be the only one not having fun around here" Diego grumbled

"Fun doing what" Sid asked as he stirred his cooking pot

"Whatever sabers enjoy doing" Diego replied a bit grumpier than intended

"And what's that ?" Sid asked without heeding his friends mood

"Why do you need to know? What's it to you anyway? I wasn't in your face when you were out with those dumb mammoths"

"Touchy!" Sid said a bit abashed "Just wondered if you had eaten as we have some food here just cooked that's all" Sid dished up a bowl of wild rice salad with tofu and mushrooms "And a poached quail egg on the top thanks to Manny!"

Diego grimaced at the leaves, rice and mushrooms "Can you eat eggs?" He asked Sid

"Veggie not vegan and we all need protein"

"But don't they have babies in them like dino babies?"

"Not you as well" Sid shot him a look "These ones didn't have names and faces so no harm done so shut your wise mouth! And what's wrong with your food? We all took such effort preparing it and you're just pushing it around"

"Well the egg was nice but I'm full now, here kids" Diego pushed it over to the ravenous cubs who's expectant faces were practically already in it anyway

"But you can't be" Sid whined "the kids ate five times as much as that and they're tiny compared to you"

"Well, Diego sighed as he thought of an excuse so not to eat the terrible stuff "the older you get the less you need to eat when you're a predator"

"That only works for vampires pal and one quail egg that's very energy efficient even by those standards"

"That's because I don't waste my energy spouting rubbish like you"

"Well don't go snacking" Sid said testily "cause there's plenty more in the pot"

The cubs heads whipped around as they darted for the cooking pot and it's contents

"Great" Diego grinned "I'll bear that in mind for later"

"What is it with you kids!" Sid screamed trying to pull them off of the food "It's not that good! Stop eating already are you bottomless or something?"

"But if we're to get real big like mammoths we need to eat way more of this stuff" Ari protested

"What do you mean?" Sid asked

"If we eat like mammoths then we will get big and strong just like mammoths" the cub explained

"And get big teeth like tusks!" Tala added

"And big tails for bows"

"And bigger and better snow coats"

"But not big noses"

"Or tummies"

"Or feet"

"Well I'm impressed Sid" Diego said after listening to the cubs strange theories, "We don't usally start teaching kids the art of lying till their much older"

"It was just an innocent remark, if you eat well then you will grow up to be big and strong that's all I said. I never said you would look like mammoths" Sid wailed

Faces and hopes dropped

"There I told ya so you stupid cubs" Steve said grinning

"Well done on the lesson on reality Sid" Diego said smirking "Harsh huh kids"

"It's more than you ever taught them" Sid muttered "thanks to me at least they can prowl and claw and swim and skate now, as well as play team sports... to a certain degree, even I might need more time with that"

Diego remembered how much this all meant to his friend, and how young and useless these kids actually were "Alright your actually not bad at this parenting thing, there I said it happy?"

Sid instantly perked up "Really do you think. In your face Manny"

"What? I never said a thing"

"But you were thinking it"

"Sid your paranoid, your're the last thing on my mind at any given moment"

"Oh" Sid looked genuinely put out for five sec's till he remembered his new family obbsession to help get over Manny not loving him so much anymore "So I guess it's bed time kids, who wants a story?"

Diego groaned and stalked off.

"Can you tell it while you relight the fire?" Manny asked Sid as he found he could not stop shivering.

"Nope" Sid smirked at the thought of Manny now needing him "I can't I have no more wood"

"You gathered loads I saw a huge pile of it!" Manny said through chattering teeth

"Yeah and I used it to cook with"

"Go find some more then I'm freezing!"

"It's too dark and I'm tired, it's been nonstop all day" Sid said annoyed that Manny was ordering him around

"So cold" Came Manny's weak voice

Sid felt sorry for his big friend now "We could snuggle!" he suggested

"..." Said Manny (sounded like a weak whimper)

Sid took that as definitely not a no "Come on kids bunk beds ready!"

Diego watched as the extended herd all piled on top of Manny and shook his head at how his friend could have gone so soft so quick. Ellie smiled as she thought Manny was finally showing his sensitive, careing side. Manny ignored them all as all he cared about was the fact that he was starting to regain feeling in his frozen ears and nose at last.

Sid, having just finished throwing himself around into a comfortable position, noticed Diego was curled up alone "Hey there's room for one more, come on we're all family nothing to get shy about!" he called to his best pal

"Nope I'd rather freeze" Diego replied as dry as ever.

"Suite yourself" Sid said unsurprised "How about you Peaches are you not joining us?"

Peaches felt like sleeping alone too, especially now that she could not talk to her dad without the whole herd hearing about her guilty secret.

Ellie who was beside Manny but not under Sid and co, beckoned her daughter over with her trunk "Come on honey"

Peaches hesitated a moment then went over to her mother whose reassuring hug made her feel a lot better, one more night in that pit wouldn't hurt those sabers would it? she wondered. After all Diego had said earlier that predators didn't need that much food as they grew up and they had each other for warmth and company. She would get a chance to tell her dad tomorrow and then he would sort it all out and everything would be better. She drifted off feeling a little better.

* * *

The saber pack sat watching the clouded skies from the bottom of their pit. Soon it would snow again and they only needed a little more height after last night's snow fall before they could get out and revenge themselves on that pesky calf.

* * *

P.S. This is leading somewhere... just very slowly.


	15. one long, long night for peaches

Well it's been a while but the longer I go without updating the more interest this story gets. Some would spot a trend here and say _**get the message!**_, but I've always been a bit thick so decided to write a bit more since I've got a week off to play with and still love ice age to bits.

Next day

Peaches awoke early after a very troubled sleep and quietly set her mind to ponder the task of how she was going to tell her parents about the trapped sabers. Even if she could get them alone she didn't know how they could save the cats without her new friends eventually finding out how their parents came to be trapped in the first place. Everyone in the herd got along so well she really didn't want to be the one to spoil the multi specie harmony her Dad had created.

Peaches very much resembled her father as she considered and rejected various plans; she dearly hoped her parents would wake soon.

"Oi, big nose!" Steve whispered from his bed on top of various cubs and Manny's head.

Peaches ignored him as she really wasn't in the mood for that stupid cub right now.

Steve tried to get up but Sid's arm lay heavily around his neck and he was quite stuck. Sid didn't look that strong and Steve growled in frustration. "Hey food face watch'a doing?" he whispered louder. He waited impatiently for an answer but soon realised that none was coming "Hey I can see that you're awake so stop ignoring me"

"I'm thinking" Peaches snapped "Now shut up"

"Thinking? Why?"

"Because I can"

"I mean thinking about what? Stupid"

"Never you mind" Peaches whispered in her harshest tone and turned away so to ignore him better.

"You're up to something, aren't you? Just tell me" Steve persisted.

"No. It's none of your business. Now go away"

"Okay then I'll guess. Let's see, you love being 'Miss goodie two shoes' so I bet you've done something not so good, something wrong; maybe even bad"

Peaches didn't answer. But that didn't shut Steve up.

"Yep something really bad by the way you've been distracted and really quiet lately" Steve said hoping to eventually hit a nerve, "Something so bad that it has made you doubt that you're better than everyone else" he smiled as he saw Peaches' ears prick up at his guess.

"I don't think I'm better than every one!" Peaches protested "It's just hard _not_ to be better than you"

"You're lucky that's all" Steve said disgruntled. "One day your luck is going to run out then we will see how good you really are"

Peaches suddenly felt very troubled "_You're not_ _good, not good like father, not at all" _a little voice inside her mocked. "Just shut up and go back to sleep" She snapped at Steve louder than she had intended and accidently woke Sid.

"Kids what are you whispering about?" Sid yawed.

"Peaches has a secret" Steve replied.

"How exciting! What is it?" Sid asked instantly too curious to sleep.

"I can't tell you" Peaches sighed in frustration "It's secret"

"Tell us any way" Sid pleaded "I love secrets"

"No" Peaches said looking up to see Sid looking down at her from the top of her dad's head while surrounded by all her new cub friends. "You really won't like it" she said turning away again.

"Oh. It's a bad secret" Sid said thoughtfully.

"Knew it" Steve giggled

"Then how about you think out loud about it and I pretend not to listen" Sid tried.

Peaches knew her uncle Sid would be no help dealing with a problem this big "No" She replied.

"Fine" Sid said "Then I won't tell you my secret either then" he lied

"I think one secret is enough for me right now" peaches said uncomfortably.

"You know a secret shared is a um... half a problem don't you?" Sid suggested

Peaches considered this, half a secret did actually seem better.

"Unless the problems called Sid" Manny said interrupting them as they had interrupted his sleep, "Then it just gets bigger and worse as time goes on. Now why do I have to hear your bothersome voice all night as well as all day?"

"It's not me" Sid protested "It's Pe..."

Peaches gasped this was not how she wanted to approach her parents with this. She needn't have worried though Manny soon stood up sending Sid and the cubs tumbling from his back. Sid fell face first into a deep drift of cold snow before he could say anything more.

"Ah that's better, peace and quiet" Manny said as Sid was silenced by a mouthful of snow.

"And that's the thanks we get for our efforts to keep you warm baldy" Sid said indignantly "Well if I am going to get dumped in the snow every morning then you can forget about us sleeping together again tonight"

"We are moving south today and we are not stopping until its warm" Manny said "Either that or I find a quieter less claw filled blanket to survive the night with"

Suddenly Ellie woke with a start "Moving south? Not without Crash and Eddie" She blurted out.

Manny sighed in frustration, nothing was simple anymore. Moving south and getting away from the other mammoths before he was made to help hunt down any humans was actually great idea; he wasn't giving up on it yet. "Isn't it about time we went looking for those possums?" he suggested slyly "They've been gone days, they must be in some kind of trouble by now"

"Those boys are trouble" Ellie said eyeing Manny suspiciously "And what ever happened to giving them space and not meddling?"

"I said that ages ago, now we all know they don't stand a chance of ever having a relationship so we better go see what's gone wrong" Manny said with more frustration, Ellie always chose the worse times to be hard headed.

"No" Ellie said firmly. "I for one have not given up on them. They can do this, given time, maybe... Well the important thing is that we all believe in them"

"So let me get this straight" Manny said catching on Ellie's brief moment of doubt and using it to his advantage "After all these years of _not_ growing up you think that now they are seriously going to turn their lives around and become sensible mild mannered mammals?"

"Maybe, stranger things have happened" Ellie said thoughtfully "Just look at our time together and all the totally improbable stuff that's occurred" Ellie said though unconvinced of her own argument she couldn't not speak up for those scoundrel brothers of hers, after all if she didn't who else in the world would?

As if he could read her mind, Manny had the same idea "Okay" He said rather smugly, "Then let's put it to the vote. Sid, Diego what do you think are Crash and Eddie capable of growing up or should we go save them now?"

Though he would never admit to it Diego agreed with Ellie, if those boys actually did grow up then a couple more days wait in the cold would be worth it. But being loyal to a fault to the herd leader he answered "I'm with you Manny, Sid's got more chance of growing up then both of those miscreants put together, we'd better go save them"

"Yeah that's true, those guys are hopeless" Sid chuckled, till he saw the angry and betrayed look Ellie was shooting at him. He looked at Manny smiling wistfully southwards, the warming rays of the rising sun glinted on his ferocious tusks, suddenly an angry look from Ellie seemed not so bad compared to how Manny could get when he got angry "Sorry Ellie, It's sad but alas true"

"Right so it's decided we find them and go far, far away" Manny quickly concluded.

Peaches let out a very heartfelt sigh, she had not had time to say good morning today and already her Dad was up and saving the herd again. Well she would tell him and he would fix everything just as he always did and everything would soon be right again. Suddenly she thought of an idea to get him and her mum alone "Wouldn't we cover more ground if we split up?" She suggested "Maybe us three go this way and some others like go over there somewhere to search?" She said hugging her Dads trunk hard and pulling him toward Ellie and away from the rest of the herd.

"Good thinking Peaches then we would cover a lot more ground and get this over with much quicker" Manny agreed.

"Come on kids!" Sid said also brimming with enthusiasm as he imagined his home coming applause for finding the possums first. "This will make for a perfect orienteering and tracking lesson!" he said excited. After all how could he fail to win what he suddenly saw as a competition, he had ten noses designed for tracking under his command, this was going to be a piece of cake.

"Don't go to wild Sid" Diego cautioned his friend "If the cubs mum shows up and the kids aren't here then there might be trouble"

Sid's enthusiasm was instantly deflated. "But I was going to win!" He whined "And I thought you didn't want them anymore and that I could keep them"

"Sid I keep saying that they're not mine" Diego growled.

"Wait a minute" Manny said interrupting, concern crossing his face "Those sabers might be back already?"

"Already?" Diego muttered in disbelief "It's been like forever"

Peaches tugged on Manny's trunk but he had become like a lead weight to pull "Uh mum, dad, about that" She said as she tugged harder on him to follow.

"Relax everyone" Ellie said "possums are too small for sabers to hunt so nothing to worry about"

"Uh honey I wasn't thinking about the possums" Manny said awkwardly.

"Than what could you possibly be worried over now?" Ellie asked as Manny and Diego, and even Sid shot her a look of total disbelief. Manny wondered how to say this without scaring Peaches.

Peaches took advantage of the herd's moment of silent astonishment "Mum, Dad I really need to talk to you guys, like now!"

"Not now angel this really isn't play time any more" Manny said in a stern tone, he needed his herd together and safe right now, his head went into his default over protective mode as a plan formed "Ellie, Peaches you will search over by the mammoth herd on high ground where you can see any signs of trouble; uh the possums coming from any direction over a greater distance. Sid you search close around here keeping an eye and an ear out for anyone, possum or saber, that t-rex didn't eat you, so you should be safe enough. Me and Diego will search everywhere else agreed? Good then let's get going! Come on!"

"Manny that would mean you searching a very large area" Ellie said suspiciously as Manny ushered her along in the direction of safety and the mammoth herd.

"So?"

"Well that could take weeks on your own"

"Well if that's what it takes to find those brothers of yours" Manny said with a total lack of sincerity.

"And well those Mammoths are boring and I have spent far too much time over there already" Ellie whined as she realised Manny wasn't about to change his mind on this.

"And staying here is boring" Sid whined louder "How come you and Diego get all the interesting bits to search?"

"Because" Manny slowly and somewhat painfully explained "Crash and Eddie are far more likely to turn up over by the mammoths where Ellie you have been known to hang out playing various games lately"

"Sports Manny, I have been playing _sports_" Ellie corrected.

"That's what I meant to say. The other most likely scenario is that they wander back here our most recent camp, so you guys are really in the best spots for potentially finding the possums first. Plus when you do find them you know where everyone is so can alert us and we can all get back to having fun in the safety of a large group way south of here sooner rather than later" Manny explained carefully as he was making his plan up as he went along, it sounded pretty convincing he had to admit.

Everyone fell silent as this actually did seem like a good idea.

Ellie reluctantly allowed herself to be pushed along at a pace that was a bit faster than she would otherwise have liked. She could think of no more protests to stop this good but boring plan. "You know we can make our own way over, you don't need to escort us as well as search the entire continent"

"I know, it's just I would feel better if I saw that you were safe first"

"Dad you really don't have to worry..." Peaches said as they were quite out of ear shot from the rest of the herd now plus she could see her uncle's Sid and Diego were too distracted to really be listening in any way.

"You're right" Manny said patting his daughter thoughtfully "Nothing to worry about, just think of it as another crazy adventure which we all inevitably survive from, tails crossed "

"Well you see, those other sabers, the cubs parents..." Peaches stammered, whishing she had rehearsed this more rather than arguing with Sid this morning.

"Are not soft like Diego!" Manny near shouted with great concern "Ellie, Peaches you can't trust strangers or anyone that's not part of our herd" He said in his sternest voice to them both "Especially strangers with big teeth!"

"Yes I know that" Peaches said angry that he should speak to her like a baby "But I..."

"No buts!" Manny commanded.

Ellie giggled "no butts"

Manny ignored her and dictated on "some animals are not safe, not everyone can be trusted, some animals can even be dangerous that's the way nature is. You must always be on your guard and stay by bigger stronger mammoths, if you see anyone you don't know, Ellie I hope you're listening to this!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah you're worried about everything again" Ellie said mock yawning. "Manny I am actually capable of looking after myself you know, I survived for years before I met you. Now I appreciate your concern but I think that we're all a lot tougher than you give us credit for, and frankly it's a bit insulting"

"But that's what I'm trying to tell you!" Peaches shouted over the pair of them "I know that those other sabers are not like Diego, I..."

"Manny!" Sid shouted from not very far away drowning Peaches out completely. Both Peaches and Manny huffed in irritation.

Five minutes earlier,

Sid began making a breakfast of porridge for both himself and the cubs "Oh look" Sid commented casually as Manny ushered Ellie and Peaches off further and further away "Manny's going to team up with Ellie and Peaches to search after all"

"Well that's just great" Diego said "If they're not going to stick to the plan then they could at least tell us"

"Relax you can stay here with us!" Sid said offering Diego a bowl only to have it pushed back at him "Well, seeing as we can't help search, thanks to you; I have decided that today is going to be all about feelings. And how you have hurt mine spoiling my orienteering lesson and rejecting my good food; and porridge isn't junk before you say it"

Diego shut his mouth for a moment "Looks worst than junk"

Sid ignored him and started his lesson "Now kids let's talk about hurt, not when you are physically wounded from something that you can heal from but when you are cut deep inside by someone's careless words and/or actions"

The cubs looked confused "How can you be hurt when you're not actually hurt?" Breezy, one of the cubs asked.

"For example" Sid explained through a mouthful of food "How's it feel to be all abandoned by your folks like you are? Wouldn't you rather live with me instead?"

The cubs looked very concerned; it had been a while since they last saw their parents suddenly they realised what it was to be hurting without being actually hurt.

"Aw don't get the kids messed up with all that kind of drivel" Diego snapped with a look of sheer horror. "Sabers don't talk about feelings or any mushy stuff like that, and kids she is probably going to turn up anytime soon like she always does after a very long hunt. This is normal for tigers."

"What? Really?" Sid said astonished that other mammal's parents could be as neglectful as his own "So your parents left you as well?"

"Yeah of course" Diego lied as best he could to put the near tearful cubs at ease "It's good for you, builds character" Diego noted that no one was convinced as a few lips started to tremble "Why My mum left me for a week once. I waited patiently just like she told me without fear, then when she did come back she had the biggest antelope you ever saw"

The cubs faces instantly brightened.

"My mother was dragged back by an antelope and told shed get reported if she made a run for it again. She used to sit and count the seconds till I was old enough to leave home saying it could never come around soon enough" Sid said rather woefully.

"Relax it happens to everyone" Diego said sympathetically, more for Sid's poor mother than Sid, but the sympathetic tone was there none the less "The break is good toughens you up I'm sure"

"But look how you turned out" Sid whined.

"Perfect"

"You hang out with us" Sid corrected

"Okay could be better" Diego agreed.

"And with my help" Sid said putting his whiney voice away and adopting a far more positive tone "These kids will be way better, I am going to be the perfect parent!" He announced. "So if you could just butt out as promised and let me do my thing now Diego I would appreciate some space"

"Whatever" Diego muttered "It would serve Sara right, she should be here raising them herself if she wants what's best for them. I'm going get those stupid possums, make those kids as wet as you like" Diego snapped, _'Maybe I should be looking for breakfast instead'_ he thought slyly as everyone now seemed occupied with their boring families.

"Shouldn't you wait for Manny?" Sid said "He might come back; look Ellie's telling him to stop fussing all ready"

"Na I hunt better alone" Diego said turning to go

"Hunt?"

"look!" Diego corrected himself "l look better alone" He smiled at the pun and looked back only to see that it had been wasted on Sid who wasn't paying any attention to him but listening in on Manny's lecturing about bad mammals instead "Manny looks like he might be a little tied up with family issues anyway"

"Well they do seem to be very deep in debate" Sid agreed "Wonder what they are all talking about." He pondered out loud.

"Possible ways to lose you as well as those possums?" Diego suggested with a smirk.

Again Sid ignored him, there was only room for one funny guy in this herd and Sid was sure he owned that title "No one misses you when you go hunting for hours you know" Sid said knocking Diego down a peg or two.

Diego glared hard at Sid; that would have been enough to make the sloth flinch once but Sid had grown used to being menaced at; so Diego added in a cold hard voice "Manny didn't hesitate for a second when he said he liked me better"

"Hey Manny!" Sid shouted despite Peaches urgently trying to talk to her father "Weren't you and Diego going to search everywhere for those possums? Don't you think the two of you had better get started already" Sid said with a smirk "There let's see if you still think that's a good thing after spending the whole day with the grumpy, anxiety ridden, big footed hulk. Happy hunting! Oh no you're going to be searching now aren't you, good luck it's going to be a real sweet trip I bet"

Diego snarled at Sid as Manny moodily stomped by "Let's get this over with already" the mammoth snapped frustrated that his herd always seemed to be in danger in every possible way.

"Mum" Peaches began as her dad stormed off to save her uncles, "Well, you know how Dad is always saving lives, everyone in our herd is here thanks to him."

"Yeah, I shouldn't be so hard on him for worrying like he does" Ellie sighed.

"Mum" Peaches continued with a slow meek voice, "What if I'm not that good, what if I'm not like Dad and I didn't save anyone but got scared and kind of pushed them down into a pit and left them there, kind of thing?"

"Peaches" Ellie said with some concern "You really don't have to live up to your father. Those are big shoes to fill and you are still very young. Maybe we should tell you more stories about when your dad messes up to even out your expectations in life"

"He messes up?" Peaches said not believing her ears.

"Oh yeah sure he does. In fact any situation which involves words and not brute strength he messes up, royally" Ellie explained.

"Really?"

"Yes really. Don't worry too much about it Peaches just try not to do it again; and be sure to apologise if you do. You'd be amazed at what Crash and Eddie have got away with thanks to a good sincere heartfelt apology; perhaps they could help you pretend you mean it too, they are very good at that"

"But I am not sorry because they were mean, I need Dad but he is always so busy"

"Peaches I'm sure no ones that mean"

"Yeah, Sabers are!"

"I thought you liked Sid's cubs" Ellie said jumping to a wrong conclusion, "Oh wait now that I think about it you and Steve were playing a bit rough the other day. Come on let's say sorry and work this out you'll feel much better once you do"

"No mum I don't care if I push him in a ditch he's a lion I meant some other sabers"

"You know Peaches, we all play a bit rough with each other in the herd and sometimes things can go a bit too far but we all know we're friends at the end of the day and friends forgive each other, come on let's go back kiss and make up then get back to having fun"

"That's gross Mum"

"Yeah but I bet saying sorry doesn't sound so bad now"

"Mum! I don't need to apologize to any of them"

"Well I don't see any other sabers for you to be pushing around"

Peaches paused; if this was her mum's best solution then maybe she needed to figure this out alone after all. If her Dad messed up sometimes as well then her first mistake didn't seem so bad, she would try again "Fine" she conceded hoping to drop the whole subject sooner rather than later and followed Ellie back to camp.

0000 (The new line break)

Sid waited till Manny and Diego were gone "Right kids now let's find those possums"

"But weren't we..." Breezy began

"AH! No butts!" Sid said and they all giggled "Oh wait hush up kids Ellie's still here" Sid whispered as Ellie and Peaches walked back to camp. "Ellie, I thought you guys were supposed to be going to the safety of the mammoth herd?"

"Yes but Peaches has something she'd like to say first, come on Peaches you will feel better I promise"

"Fine" a moody peaches stomped up "Sorry" she said to no one in particular hoping that that would be enough to satisfy her mum.

"Sorry who?" Ellie sang eager to find out who Peaches felt so anxious about.

Peaches looked at her friends. They would surely ask questions later if she said sorry out of the blue like this; everyone except Steve that is. That stupid cub would just take pride that she had been made to apologize at all and not think any further on it, she hoped.

"Sorry Steve, for pushing you the other day" She mumbled.

"Good" Steve said unsure of what she was talking about but pleased of the humiliation all the same.

"Great now were all friends again" Ellie exclaimed, "So who's up for finding Crash and Eddie?" she said out of the blue.

"That was my plan!" Sid said

"So let's work together and show Manny and Diego that we are every bit just as competent as they are"

"Wait just one minute there misses, no one doubted **my** competence" Sid said

"Yeah they did, now let's show them what we're made of! We will find the boy's first, sort out their relationship, hopefully for the better proving Manny wrong on that too, and be the first to get back proving that we are the best"

"Also my plan!" Sid said astonished.

"Then let's go" Ellie said marching off, She and Peaches took the lead as it took Sid a minute to gather his wits. Ellie took the quiet opportunity to say to Peaches "There not so bad huh? And relax I know your little secret" She added with a knowing wink.

"You do?" Peaches said horrified of what she might do next.

"Hey it's not so bad; you know my first crush was on a guy one foot tall and nearly five tonnes lighter than me. At least you know you're a mammoth, you do know you're a mammoth?"

Peaches blushed red; her mum thought she had a crush? On him of all mammals! How gross? "You won't tell will you?" She said meekly hoping things didn't get any worse.

"Mum's the word" Ellie said smiling '_Ah my little girls growing up' _She thought.

'_I am never asking Mum for help ever, ever again'_ Peaches thought.

"Ellie slow down!" Sid shouted from way behind them "We are supposed to be tracking not marching around till we blunder into them! Who do you think you are Manny?" Sid shook his head in frustration, why was it always down to him to be the smart one in the herd? "Come on kids let's find that scent and show them how the pro's do things around here"

The cubs looked at each other "Scent?"

"Yeah you know the smell trail that will lead us straight to the possums"

Still the cubs looked blank.

"You know like when you go to find your prey you track and hunt it down. We are going to do that to find the possums" Sid explained.

"We've never really done that" Breezy confessed for the cubs "The only time we have ever hunted Diego took us through some tall grass and we couldn't see what was happening. We wasn't even much good at walking painfully slow so got left behind"

"So no one's ever taught you to hunt!" Sid said with heartfelt anger "And they call themselves tigers! So yet again it comes down to me to do everything!" Sid rummaged through his fur and found a dry pea the possums had shot him with weeks ago; his bath hadn't been that good after all. He held it up for the cubs to see.

"Is that a scent?" Breezy asked as all the other cubs hated to look stupid so wouldn't admit to not knowing.

"No" Sid said "This is a pea, but on it is some possum hairs from which you can get a scent"

"Do we eat it?" Breezy asked

"No you sniff it like this" Sid demonstrated dramatically tasting the scent like a fine wine but through his nose. "Now shut your eyes and concentrate on the mix of aromas that emanate from this tiny pea. Learn to separate and label them. Then focus on only the one that we need, it's the one that's most like soggy rat and dandelion wee mixed together"

Peaches and Ellie wandered over to see what Sid was up to, they shrugged at each other and took a sniff too. "Wow it does smell faintly like Crash" Ellie exclaimed.

"But a lot more like pea" Peaches added

"And a lot, lot more like Sid" Ellie giggled.

"Hay we are being serious!" Sid corrected the mammoths "Now concentrate! Think of the possum smell, concentrate on the possum smell and find the source of that possum smell like your life depended on it!" Sid suddenly buried his nose into the snow to find the ground below and started rooting around for a hint of possum.

Everyone watched his upraised bottom circling around dramatically and suppressed a giggle.

Sid became aware that he couldn't hear anyone else looking and pulled his head up out of the snow. Some of the snow clung to his fur looking like a hat and beard. "Ahem?" He growled trying to look angry, but failing "Are we going to win this or not?"

Everyone put their head down and got sniffing, including Ellie and Peaches.

Sid kept an eye on everyone to make sure they were really doing it this time. "Now shut your eyes and see with your nose!" He instructed "Imagine a 3D picture building up around you from the highway of information flooding in with each and every sniff. The layers of detail provide a time line of who has gone by and when! Why your nose holds the knowledge of the shape and colour of every living thing that has passed this way over weeks of time; all you have to do is concentrate and learn to use this wonderfully valuable, sensitive tool. Oh nuts just hurry up and find the possums already" He cried impatiently.

"I found something!" Breezy cried.

Everyone looked up because surprised as all they were getting was one nostril full of snow after another.

"It smells just like that pea" Breezy said excited.

"Follow the trail!" Sid cried needlessly as she was already blazing path through the snow.

"This way!" Breezy said leading them along. The smell was so strong and so clear she couldn't believe no one else had spotted it. Everyone followed her around rocks over a hill and finally into a tree. Breezy hit her head hard as she came to an abrupt stop.

"You should have smelt that coming" Sid said "Where do we go now?"

"It seems to stop here" Breezy said rubbing her head

"Crash? Eddie?" Ellie called up into the branches, but no one was there. "Maybe they're asleep?" She said shacking the tree in case a sleeping possum was concealed somewhere out of sight. The tree fell apart in her gentle grip, splintering into many fine dry little fragments and revealed a huge stash of dried peas, nuts and berry bombs inside.

"We were meant to be tracking possums not the pea" Sid said disappointed

"Yeah" Steve laughed "What's the point of hunting peas?"

"Still more than you ever hunted" Breezy shot back at him.

"Still stupid" Steve laughed at her.

"It's not stupid!" Peaches said "It might even be a clue"

"This is Crash and Eddie's weapon store" Ellie said eating some of the nuts "This is a good start"

Sid took a mouthful of nuts and crunched thoughtfully "They must have been by here often to build up such a stash; we will refuel and search the area more thoroughly, good work team!"

0000

Diego jogged to keep up, Manny was on a mission alright and Diego could feel that there was more on his friends mind than just finding those possums. "So what's the real plan?" Diego asked as knowledge was key to being a good beta in any pack, or herd, and as far as he was concerned he was beta.

Manny said nothing, he was clearly upset. Scenes of Ellie and Peaches falling victim to humans and sabers or both filled his imagination. "_I think that we're all a lot tougher than you give us credit for_" Ellie's words drifted around his head as various scenarios of her walking willingly into the humans open BBQ pit or gigantic toothy saber mouths played out. '_She isn't that stupid!_" Manny told himself but his imagination wouldn't believe it.

Diego instinctively knew that this could be a very bad day for him unless he either changed Manny's outlook significantly or got rid of the moody hair ball completely. He needed to break Manny out of his current train of all consuming thought. He couldn't be too obvious, Manny was prone to over sensitivity, but he didn't want to beat about the bush either. "You know" Diego said thoughtfully after some time "Sid's doing a class on feelings and touchy stuff like that today with the kids, if you want I can look for the possums and you can go back and keep everyone safe at camp" '_There'_ he thought '_the options should be clear enough from that either go away, do a self improvement lesson or both'_ Diego mentally patted himself on the back '_I'm a genius'_ he thought.

Still Manny said nothing, his eye brows were firmly knitted and his gaze was way distant. _'Why should I worry about the human tribe being pinkies people? If they pose a threat to my family then it's not a crime if I and an angry mob of mammoths pose one to theirs. But what if it is the sabers, would Diego's friends be my families' friends and only hunt other mammoths? Do predators have morals like that? Is it insensitive to ask?_'

"The general idea behind opening up and talking through your problems isn't such a bad one you know" Diego said more to himself than anything as Manny was being extra melancholy today, and it was still early yet. "Good communication is a skill, a string to your bow. If you can come to terms with your own anxieties they longer exist as your weakness but become your reason to strive, to conquer" Still Manny said nothing so Diego rambled on aware of how this was Sid's job to fill space with chatter but at least it kept his mind from breakfast "You know that by talking through your problem you give others access to offer input and assistance to what at first might seem imposable. Allowing your team in and utilising their ideas to solve your conundrum; two heads are better than one, strength in numbers? Good leadership, connect with those around you..." Diego grasped at stuff Sid might say but had to admit it was all nonsense to him, he needed Sid to break this Mammoth with an annoying song or joke. He gave up and plodded along silently.

Finally Manny spoke something Diego said struck a chord with Ellie's words earlier "Have you been talking to Ellie?"

"No" Diego said confused, "should I?"

Manny sighed in apology to his somewhat moody silence "I'm just tired about worrying about the same old stuff okay, no big deal"

"We have gotten past the old stuff this has to be something new. Why not listen in on Sid talking about talking, it might help"

"Even if it did" Manny sighed, "I wouldn't give that sloth the satisfaction. I can figure this out, it's just where to begin?"

"Going back and venting on Sid is as good a place to start as any" Diego suggested hoping Manny might get the message.

"Yeah but not an end, I'm tired of constantly worrying. There's **always** danger and I can't lose my family again"

"Ellie's way tougher than you" Diego stated very matter of fact "and Peaches really does know how to use her head" Diego thought it was better to not remind Manny of that incident with the wild boars where she really showed how brave she was, so just added "she's a real survivor that kid, you should be proud"

Manny chuckled a little at that; remembering how evil those innocent looking kids could actually be. Both he and Ellie sure got out smarted last time they tried babysitting. He felt his mood lighten, Ellie was right they were tougher than he gave them credit for and smarter. The herd survived because they were a team not because he carried them. He decided to lose his moody disposition and face his problems with a more positive outlook.

"Right" Manny started, "Well first there was all these mammals going missing, Mick, the leader of that herd we met with, said it was all down to sabers; but then you told me that the kids parents were away so that wasn't right"

"There are other sabers besides them you know" Diego said a bit insulted.

"No you see it wasn't sabers at all Peaches discovered the humans were catching the animals in pits; and just in time because the mammoths were going to stomp the sabers out of the valley"

"A fight?" Diego's ears perked "That would have been fun"

"Not now it won't, I have stopped the mammoths revenging the lives of those fallen on the sabers however now they want to chase out the humans; a dangerous plan. And I didn't care much but then Sid suggested well what if it's our pinkies humans?"

"What if it is?" Diego said confused.

"Well to show I'm not soft for living with a predator"

"Oh so I do still count as dangerous predator then"

"Don't worry I explained to them that you're far from dangerous"

"Great thanks, there goes my self respect"

"Seriously Diego you're not anything like a real tiger, which is a good thing, but anyway back to my problem, the mammoths want me to prove my sanity by protecting my herd and theirs by helping to stomp out the human threat"

"Oh and you have to save your humans, family, face and everyone else in the valley if not continent in one great big heroic gesture. Ever think you're addicted to lost causes?"

"It's not what I want to do, If I could just get those possums and leave I would but now the sabers are back meaning Ellie or anyone could get killed while I'm defending us all from humans. I just can't do it all; leaving is the best solution I can think of. But of course we can't do that till we are all together"

"Stall the mammoths" Diego said decisively, "I will check out the humans see if its pinkies tribe and warn them if it is. By tonight the possums will probably have come back I will get rid of those kids and we can leave the rest to fate" Diego said. Then added with a grin "Unless there is a fight then I'm not missing out on the fun"

"No we won't let it come to that not if we work quickly, but how will you warn the humans if it is our Pinkies tribe?" Manny asked as he worried over details

"I'll think of something, don't worry"

"Wow, that's a real weight off my mind are you sure you'll be okay those humans have spears"

"Yeah those are easy to dodge don't worry"

"I'll try just be careful wont you, and don't do anything stupid"

"Manny!" Diego started

"I know, I know I'm being insulting by doubting your competence, I've been told I do that already today, Sorry! I'm sure you'll do a good job whatever your plan, I'll just butt out now"

"Good" Diego said with real meaning, then added sympathetically "Good luck stalling those mammoths, I hear they can be quite hard headed" Diego said with a smirk.

"Finding those possums would probably be easier" Manny sighed looking at the vastness of space before him which he stupidly said he'd search.

"Well I took Eddie that way to find Crash" Diego said pointing "It's the long way back to the mammoth herd but finding the possums should be easy, just listen for the inevitable mayhem"

"Right, let's do this!" Manny set off with steely determination marching as fast as he could.

Diego cast a look back every now and then to make sure Manny was really gone, finally he could start hunting down some breakfast and maybe find those humans.

0000

Manny had gotten some way across the valley before he started worrying about Ellie again. He tried not to as it was very distracting and he needed to concentrate; suddenly his eye caught something. Manny watched as a storm of lethally hard snow flew up and down over the crest of a hill followed by loud curses. Manny headed straight for the eye of the storm after all localized mayhem like that could only be one/two things Crash and Eddie. He had found his possums.

0000

Earlier that day

After a few more diversions the possums were again slowly walking back to camp. Their feet were sore and blistered, they were all mentally and physically exhausted to extreme. They had run out of clever quips and gags and their tolerance of each other was at an all time low.

Crash led, he was struggling to crawl he was so tired but the image of his herd and little Peaches waiting for him kept him going. "It can't be much further now" He wheezed "We have been walking for two whole hours now, we must be able to see Manny's gargantuan butt by now" He looked ahead but could only see an empty snowy wasteland stretching out before him.

Eddie was holding on to Crash's tail and dragging his feet along. "Just how big can this stupid world be?" He whined "We must have near done a total lap of the planet, where are they?"

Emma held Eddie's hand and was also getting pulled along "If we just set up a proper home in a tree and lived like proper possums like I suggested days ago we would be home by now"

"And leave the herd?" Crash turned in horror to face his brother "You are going to leave the herd, your family and what that good for nothing floozy"

"I wasn't I wouldn't!" Eddie said defensively "We are going to live with the herd, maybe get a mobile house which Ellie could move from camp to camp"

"I am not living in a trailer" Emma started.

"Good you can stay put because travelling with our herd would be too good for the likes of you"

"Crash!"

"Well look at her in that stupid stripy jump suit she looks like a convict. Eddie she's no good!" Crash said very upset.

"She looks just like us, stop being a cry baby Crash"

Crash looked at Eddie and Emma, they did both look like possums, but seeing them together just upset him more "Find your own family and ruin that" Crash shouted at Emma.

"She can't wolves ate her family" Eddie explained

"And eagles ate half of ours but you don't see me destroying families with my evilness!" Crash said bitterly

"But you did lose my sister! It's only right that I get your brother" Emma snapped

"Over my dead body!" Crash growled.

"That's fine by me!" Emma growled back

"Guy's don't fight, it's up to me what I want to do" Eddie shouted but it was useless the snowballs had already started to fly and the heavy thuds of them landing drowned out his voice. He tried to stop the fight by standing between the two but each possums arms were working like wind mills catching up snow rolling it tight and launching it at the other, he just got pelted by snow from every angle.

"Don't worry Eddie I will never let her take you" Crash shouted.

"I'm not going anywhere, we were headed back to live with the herd" Eddie said from under a pile of snow.

"Eddie I am going to free you from this over bearing brother, for too long he has been a weight around your neck holding you back" Emma cried.

"No, He's not heavy he's just my brother!" Eddie's voice came from under a now possum shaped snowman.

Crash and Emma circled around as they cleared patches clean of snow, their new found energy to out snowball each other to death seemingly endless. Eddie caught most of the blows from both sides and his tolerance for either possum was tiring fast as he became wetter and colder with snow. "Hey!" He shouted suddenly enraged "This isn't about what I want at all but what you want!" He shouted as snow steamed off him with the heat of his anger.

"I only want what's best for you, and I know you best" Crash shouted

"Maybe when he was a kid like you" Emma Shouted back "But now he's grown up I'm what's best!"

Eddie was about to say something he knew he would regret for ever, that he didn't need either of them, when he saw over the crest of the horizon Manny's gargantuan head. He raced over to greet the mammoth jumping up and hugging his trunk enthusiastically "Manny you're a sight for sore eyes I'm so, so, so, so, so happy you found us!"

"Manny!" Crash shouted running over and up the mammoth's trunk, he collapsed into the soft fur on Manny's back "Salvation" he sighed happily "Carry me home!"

Manny peeled Eddie off of his face and held him by the tail "Where have you been all this time Ellie was worried sick"

Eddie pointed to a copse of trees about a half a mile back

"It has taken you days just to walk to here?" Manny said dismayed

"If only it were that simple!" Eddie sighed "Please just take us home"

Manny growled in irritation, if these guys hadn't been so unfit then he could have had the herd moving south to safer horizons by now. He looked at Eddie who had already fallen asleep hanging in front of him for questioning. He lifted over and placed him beside Crash who was snoring loudly already on his broad back '_Well I guess it's Ellie's/our fault for carrying you everywhere' _he thought as he couldn't lecture them now anyway. Suddenly he noticed the stripy coat of another possum stood in the snow. '_Oh the girl friend'_ he thought '_better be polite' _"So would you like a lift?" He offered.

"That would be nice thank you" Emma replied very sweetly. She daintily jumped onto Manny's offered foot and sat on his shoulder. "Do you always escort the boy's home?" She enquired

"There's always someone needing saving in this herd" Manny said "At least these two just need a lift back and not saving from anything too dangerous this time"

"You've done a lot for your herd then" Emma asked as she established that this was indeed the leader and by understanding him she would gain power over the entire herd.

"Believe me I've done a lot to keep my herd out of trouble. I stop them falling in lava, drowning in underwater caves, snatched them from the jaws of dinosaurs and got them home safe every time"

"Gosh that's so dedicated I hope that they are thankful to you each and every day"

"I got told this morning that I worry too much" Manny grumbled.

"Why that's terrible, I would love to have a friend like you, actually I would just like to have any friend right now I just lost my only family in the world my sister" She sobbed.

"We didn't just leave her behind did we?" Manny said stopping to go back "I only just saw your stripes in the snow I didn't know there was another possum"

"Oh no my sisters a wolf not a possum and I lost her yesterday when Crash rudely scared her away"

"Well I'm sure we'll find her" Manny said without really thinking.

"You would help me look for her! Why I would be so grateful!"

'_Ah nuts why'd I say that for?_' Manny mentally scolded himself. "It's what you do in a herd" He said the words just rolling off his tongue without him really thinking about them anymore "We look out for each other, and if you're our friend then that applies to you too I guess"

"Well that is so sweet, I hope that that applies to you too why don't you know it's dangerous to be out here alone? Why there's wolves, bears, sabers, cave lions and even humans out here, why I would hate to think that someone so dedicated to saving everyone he loves is allowed to wander about unaided in this dangerous wilderness"

"Get some sleep I'm sure your tired we'll find your sister soon enough" Manny said not wanting to think about it that way but yes she was right it would be nice for a little concern to becoming his way he was a hero after all. He marched on in a whole new moody silence.

Emma settled down for a well deserved nap, manipulating this naive herd was going to be Childs play she giggled.

0000

Diego prowled further and further in his search for prey, but all the animals he encountered were fit and healthy and staying a vast distance from him. He tried his luck with a few rabbits but soon gave up and kept wandering hoping something sick, injured or dying would turn up. It wasn't long however before he came across a truly marvellous scent. He prowled over to the source of the heavenly smell; it was close whatever it was as he could practically taste it. He crept and peeked over the rise of a small hill and saw laid out before him the human's camp. He was about to back away to a safer distance when he saw the source of the smell which had attracted him here, a large joint of meat cooking on a spit over a fire right in the heart of the camp.

Diego crouched tight to the ground and studied the camp.

His very hungry stomach growled.

He shuffled to quieten it, but it grumbled again 'you have to have that meat!' it urged.

Diego was really hungry but the meat was heavily guarded stealing it would be a risky task, far safer to try his luck at hunting again he decided.

'But stealing it would send the perfect message to the humans' his stomach reasoned 'no one hunts if there's no food to be gained from it and so long as you steel everything theses humans hunt in this valley than surely they will eventually go away. No one gets hurt just the way Manny likes it and you get back to being the deviously cunning feline that you used to be.'

Diego agreed these were good reasons but it wouldn't be easy. The meat was surrounded by eight huge mammoth fur tents, humans casually wandered this way and that and dogs on long leads lay sleeping around the parameter. It didn't stop there, as a final warning between Diego and the food wracks of animal pelts were stretched out to tan in the weak sun.

This was indeed a big camp with a lot of movement. Diego's stomach rumbled again 'you have to have that food! Back in the day you wouldn't have hesitated.'

"But I can't just wander in and take it" Diego growled to himself; or could he? There was so much movement, even a few dogs were wandering freely about the camp and with all the different smell s from the pelts and food perhaps he could go unnoticed, so long as he was careful.

Looking as crafty as he did in the good old days, before he had ever heard of humans, Diego smiled a naughty smile and crept down to begin his mission.

Closest to him were the lines of horrible pelts, a pile of soft beaten furs lay piled beneath them and Diego half buried himself in them. This was a nasty place to hide in but masked his sent from the lazy dogs who, as hoped, didn't pay any attention to the smell of yet another animal so close. Suddenly a noisy group of human children ran out from between the tents up ahead; Diego noticed they were wearing saber fur coats. The kids ran around the dogs and disappeared back into camp oblivious to him.

It was just what Diego had hoped; so long as he stayed still he was practically invisible. Still he felt better with some sort of disguise and he pulled a random cave bear skin over himself before creeping out into the open and running through the sleeping dogs just as the kids had moments before.

Diego ran into camp and lay down by one of the mammoth fur tents just in time before the kids ran by again. They passed him by and carried on running out between the dogs, no one had even batted an eye at his passing.

'_Is it really going to be this easy?_'Diego wondered but just as he thought it two adult humans walked by. Diego lay real still and held his breath.

As they passed the humans made various noises at each other, Diego listened for any indication that they might notice him, they passed so close one tripped on him. Still Diego didn't move and to his surprise the humans just walked on.

He waited till the humans were out of sight and after making sure that no one was around Diego crept on skirting around one tent and darting to hide behind another. As he crept around the second tent he noticed that the door to the tent was open. Curious Diego looked in and saw some old females within; they were totally engrossed with piles of shiny colourful shells. He watched for a moment as they cut and arranged the shells onto thongs while humming tunes. Humans it seemed were very peaceful when not throwing spears around. The children came running by again shouting and laughing, kicking up snow and disappearing again between tents. This was much like the herds camp, except for the fact that the mammoths here were triangular and had doors of course.

Again his stomach rumbled 'Quit stalling and get the food already!'

Embarrassed by how load his rumbles were getting Diego ducked further under his bear skin making himself as small as possible. The women inside looked around for the cause of the strange noise but all they saw was what looked like a pile of cloaks by the door. One stood up and stepped over picking up the bear hide on top and wrapped herself in it. She looked at Diego as she contemplated wearing another layer but he looked more like a dirty rug than a cloak so she left him lying there. Diego wasn't sure if he had just been insulted or not but acted dead all the same, this was no place for pride and it looked like he had escaped detection again. Still he had to get a move on if he didn't want his stomach giving him away again so as soon as the human turned back to her friends he upped and ran behind another tent.

Diego felt very exposed without the bear skin to hide under but the smell of food kept him focussed. No more detours, he would get what he came for and get out fast. He crept on around a few more tents and then he saw it, a huge leg of mammoth meat hovering over a large fire. A few men stood watching over it giving it a poke now and then. Diego ducked under a bunch of spears and waited for his opportunity to steal the meat when suddenly he remembered he was meant to be sending a message to these humans to leave mammoths alone. Quickly he drew some mammoth foot prints in the snow everywhere he could. He backed away from the meat and its guards and drew mammoth foot prints in every bit of un-trodden snow he could find. The mammoth prints went in and out of tents, they stood behind the old woman counting beads, they went round the sleeping dogs and finally disappeared into thin air right in the middle of camp.

Diego looked pleased with himself _'they will think a ghost has come from the spirit world to haunt them and then they will just leave_' he thought as he circled back round to find the meat unguarded. He dashed out, boldly jumped the flames and snatched the hefty meal. Then with all the prowess a cat can muster he dashed silently out of the camp with his mouth watering prize. To the adults he seemed like another kid running around but the dogs didn't miss the smell of the tribe's whole dinner leaving and woke up. They strained on their leads as they barked at the intruder creating a horrible din. The humans quickly caught on grabbing their spears and releasing the dogs.

By now Diego had already achieved a good head start which he needed as the meat was heavy in his jaws. Running through deep snow was harder than he had anticipated and he hadn't considered how impossible breathing with your mouth full actually is. This was really hard going and now Diego was dreading one of his asthma attacks coming on. (Asthma is my interpretation of what was wrong with him in film three, defiantly not fact) He knew he couldn't keep this pace up for long, he had to lose them. He glanced back, the dog's thin long legs were making light work of the snow and they were gaining on him already! He ran harder scanning ahead for an opportunity to lose them. Suddenly Diego saw a dog way up a head running at him, '_no way are they that fast!_' he thought as he readied himself to fight.

The new dog ran right up to Diego who jumped at it but was too slow to hit it. The dog whipped around dodging his claws and unexpectedly ran up beside him. Diego looked at the new comer tongue lolling out the side of her mouth and tail wagging hard, this stupid mutt looked very familiar.

"Hi, what are you doing?" She asked with eyes fixed firmly on the meat in Diego's mouth as if she were addressing it rather than him.

"Unn'in" Diego replied through his mouth full of succulent meat.

"Pardon?" she asked

Diego couldn't keep control of his breathing while running talking and carrying food any longer so he bit off the mouthful he was holding and swung the rest towards his new companion. He swallowed it down, luckily without choking, and repeated "Running, what does it look like I'm doing you idi..." just then he realised she now had his food "you... you're Crashes girl friend uh... Fleet right?"

Fleet caught the meat easily before it touched the ground without missing a step.

Diego licked his chops and took a wonderful deep breath "What are you doing here?"

"I" fleet said trying and struggling to form her words around the joint of succulent juicy meat now in her jaws "I erg arkin an"

"Pardon?" Diego asked

Fleet swung the joint back to him ripping off what was between her teeth as she did. Greedily she swallowed it down before she repeated "I heard the barking so I came to see what was going on usually where there's trouble I find my sister. Have you seen her or Crash?"

"O"

"Huh?"

Diego tossed the joint back at her tearing off some more to eat "No but Manny's looking for them"

"Ere?"

"What?" Diego said before catching the food.

"Where is he looking for them?" Fleet said quick as she was so excited to get the food back

"Everywhere" Diego answered trying to chew and talk around a very fatty bit of gristle; finally he could elaborate on his answer "He went way west of here not that long ago" He finished as he ran in close to take the food from his companion this time allowing him to aim for an easier bit to swallow.

"I looked there" Fleet sighed after swallowing another mouthful of food and catching the tossed meat again.

"Where?" Diego asked confused by her answer.

Fleet passed back the food to answer "Everywhere and I couldn't find them; their scent led all over the place so I was going to see if they were with your herd then I got hungry but hunting food is hard and then I heard the barking"

"An ou aik ugh ee?"

"I'm sorry?"

Diego swung the meat back at her "I said can you take the meat, running while holding that and is really hard"

"Oh, o hy er e unnin?"

"What?"

"So why are we running?" Fleet repeated after passing the food and swallowing another huge mouthful.

Diego passed the now very much smaller joint back at her "Because they are chasing us"

Fleet threw the meat back "But why are they chasing us?"

Diego passed back the meat "Because I have their food obviously"

"Why do you have their food?" Fleet asked after giving herself time to chew properly this time.

The dogs were almost close enough for her to ask them herself as Diego passed what was now barely more than a meat bone back to Fleet; his breathing was becoming ever more laboured where as these dogs could go for miles "I had to take it to teach the humans a lesson"

Fleet passed back the bone back to Diego who purposely dropped it, the dogs who were just inches away from his short tail fell on it greedily and were soon left behind. Diego sighed with relief and dropped his pace to catch his breath before he started wheezing.

"What lesson was that?" Fleet asked still confused

"Well not to hunt mammoths"

"Did they learn it?"

"They should do"

"That was fun" Fleet barked, "but I'm still hungry"

"Me too" Diego agreed as he was used to eating a whole animal not just a portion "let's hunt"

Fleet wagged her tail enthusiastically, the sound soon annoyed Diego "Stop it" he snapped

"What?" the wolf asked

"Flapping that stupid tail"

"But I'm happy"

"So? Just walk quietly like me and try not to alert any prey of our position by waving that stupid tail at them" Diego growled.

"Oh" Fleet said as she realised she should be learning from this hunt, she made a conscious effort to keep her tail low and still and followed Diego's lead. They walked quietly for some time like this away from the human camp and away from where anyone from the herd might be.

0000

_Long enough for you Philip Holden? Your review made me laugh so hard as my absolute pet hate about this story is the length of the chaps, they're a real pain to re-read for mistakes. (Hope I got them all this time) _


	16. cherry bomb fight

I don't own anything and make no money, forgot to mention this before! I know some people thought I could be stinking rich enough to buy iceage and that perhaps the cover of Aprils national geographic was in fact a pic of my back yard complete with new pets but no, no such luck.

Anyway on with my imaginary life...

0000

Sid and Ellie and the kids followed days and day's worth of possum scent all around trees and thickets. The weapon stash had been a good place to start but from there on things had become very confusing. Trails led up and down trees for miles with no obvious direction. It was all very confusing and further and further from the herd's camp.

"Well who'd have thought those little blighters could walk this far" Sid wheezed exhausted

"I can't believe it either" Ellie agreed, "Ten minutes tops usually"

Sid fell against a tree as his exhausted knees gave way. "I need a rest"

"What? And let Manny win?" Ellie said alarmed.

"No, no, no!" Sid said quickly "We just need to stop and think a moment, ask ourselves are we missing any vital clues that might aid us in this search? Kids fan out and search for anything clue like, Ellie since you're so tall and can think like a possum you search the high ground in the branches! And because I am best at thinking I will sit here with my eyes shut and try to think real hard about where they might have gone next" Sid nestled down making sure to get real comfortable to think "Now no one disturb me for the next thirty minutes" he instructed "this kind of concentration is hard to maintain. Oh and if anyone finds any food clues bring them back here I might need them later"

Everyone started searching; little possum foot prints led everywhere.

Ellie searched through the trees poking her trunk into various nooks and crannies for any sign of her brothers while Peaches and some cubs searched under any thickets and hidden areas on the ground.

Peaches waited till she was sure her Sid was asleep and her Mum was distracted and that stupid Steve was elsewhere before calling over some of the cubs "Guys I need a favour" She whispered, "I need you to distract Sid and My mum here a while I go and uh... check up on something"

"On your own?" Adan (one of the many cubs, don't sweat it if you can't remember one from another, I can't remember either) queried "Maybe some of us should come too, to make sure you're safe"

"No that's okay I can handle it and I will be back real soon so no need to worry" Peaches reassured him and the others before launching quickly into her idea. "Now here's my plan; we are expected to search this area but no one said how big a space we need to search and there are lots of thickets and trees and places to hide I need you guys to keep my mom and Sid distracted with things all over the place and maybe do some impressions of me to make them both think I'm still here"

"Or we could trap and tie them up again hold them till you get back" Aida suggested.

"Uh no, if you don't mind I think my way may be better plus we have no rope" Peaches said

"True" Aida agreed reluctantly

"We could find some clues to rearrange for them to find later. That will keep us busy here ages till you return" Breezy suggested

"Good thinking!" Peaches agreed "Food clues would keep Sid busy longest"

"Sid's asleep it's your mom that's going to be the problem" Breezy said dryly

"Well some really strange clues that won't easily add up could keep her distracted for a while" Peaches said unconvinced, now that she thought about it her mom really was going to be hard to fool, she started to doubt if this could work.

"Don't worry" Ari said confidently "This is a huge area if we work as a team we can do this. Isla, Tala and Lia you have voices closest sounding to Peaches so it is up to you to create the illusion that she is still here just out of sight. Me, Adan and Aida will find enough clues to keep Ellie busy for as long as possible and breezy you're the smartest so you must stay with Ellie and make sure she doesn't catch on! Keep her second guessing herself"

"What about everyone else?" Adan said noticing that not everyone was present "What will they do when they see us all acting crazy?"

"Don't worry they can't be far I will get them involved as soon as I see them" Ari said "But we had better get started on finding clues to hide and girls practice your impressions they have to be good"

Peaches smiled "This could work"

"This will work!" Ari corrected her "Let's get to work team"

"See you later I guess" Tala said to Peaches who looked in a hurry to go.

"Thanks" Peaches said and with a quick glance back to make sure her mom wasn't watching as she quickly snuck off.

Five minutes earlier...

Steve wandered away from the rest of the herd and beckoned to some of the cubs to follow him. He led them behind a very prickly thicket "Look" He told them as he revealed a secret stash of cherry bombs he had stolen from earlier while everyone else ate.

"Wow" The easily impressed cubs gapped "What do you plan to do with them?"

"Scare the girls of course" Steve chuckled evilly.

"That's a bit childish don't you think" Lars, the smallest cub said.

"Do you want to be on my team or not?" Steve growled using his huge size to menace the smaller cub "Come on it will be fun" He added, but in a sinister tone

"Sure I guess" Lars agreed rather reluctantly.

"Look" Steve instructed his new cronies "Peaches and those other cubs are over there planning something without us because she thinks you guys are not to be trusted with her important secrets"

The cubs looked over; Peaches and the other cubs were indeed talking secretively together.

Steve handed his team some cherry bombs each "Lets teach them not to keep secrets"

The cubs looked at one another "Kind of hard to prove that" Lars bravely suggested

"Just do it" Steve snapped impatiently, just then he noticed Peaches group split up to search the area and Peaches wandering further and further way from everyone else "Quick whatever she's planning we have to ruin it, so get scaring them sissies already!" He ordered his scared team.

The three cubs prowled out with cherry bombs held carefully between their jaws.

Breezy dipped under a thick thorny thicket following her nose and looking for good clues to keep Ellie distracted. She couldn't believe her luck when she found some lovely clean bones. _'perfect'_ she thought as she gathered them up and saw a skull like nothing she had ever seen before. She put the bones aside as she examined her new find. It was a wolf she guessed as it had many thin sharp teeth. Unafraid, as she had seen many bones before, she picked it up and popped it over her head. It was a bit big but was fun to peep out through the eye sockets. Suddenly she heard a rustle behind her; she looked around to see who it was. Lars had been sneaking up on his sister but now found himself nose to nose with an evil looking skull like spectre with sharp horrible teeth. He screamed and dropped his cherry bomb which detonated with a loud bang sending both cubs running scared from the red cherry flavoured blast.

Tala, Aida and Lia had also found some bones. Curious they started digging and found skulls from all sorts of animals.

"Wow someone must have had a real feast here" Lia commented as she put an anteater skull over her head, using it's long nose for effect she did a silly impression "Look I'm Peaches and I'm scared of nothing" She giggled but her sisters weren't laughing, instead they had spotted something behind her. Lia turned around to see what it was and gasped as she saw a red wolf skull monster running toward them screaming for all it was worth.

"What do we do?" Tala gasped.

"Fight it!" Aida said fearlessly.

"Leg it!" Lia said at the same time. Both she and Tala scampered and a moment later Aida scampered after them.

"Wait!" Aida shouted

"Survival of the fittest" Lia quoted from their parents "Run faster"

"That's not good team work we should stick together" Aida scolded her "Sabers fear nothing we should fight!"

"But we don't know what it is" Tala said "so let's run now and seek revenge later"

"Agreed" Lia said and ran faster.

"Grrr" Aida growled frustrated but followed her sisters anyway.

Zan and Cai saw them running past "Quick now's our chance to get them with the bombs!" Zan whispered as he threw a few bombs in the girls direction.

Tala and Lia screamed as cherry flavoured bangs went off in their faces. They stopped running to wipe the red juice out of their eyes and heard the unmistakeable sound of childish giggles. "Right now we fight!" Tala growled as she spotted her half brothers in fits of laughter.

"You asked for that when you decided to keep secrets from us!" Zan said surprised "And you are meant to be running away scared!"

"You better run away scared!" Lia growled as she and Tala ran for the fleeing boys.

"We have to fight the monster not each other!" Aida sighed as she came to a stop "Oh what's the point?" She asked herself as everyone else had run off

"The point is to stick to the plan" An unexpected voice said beside her. Aida looked around as she had not seen anyone else around. She spotted a big and dark hole which went deep under some tree roots "Keep them guessing and confused for as long as possible remember?" The voice said as something shuffled in the dark.

Aida peered closer "Who's there?" She said bravely and a pig skull lurched out from the darkness at her it's huge tusks inches from her face. "Ahhh!" She screamed and ran

"It's me" Ari said as he climbed out from under the pig skull "Look at this I have found, hey where did everyone go?" He asked confused till he saw an exhausted red wolf skull monster coming straight for him. Quickly he hid behind the pig skull. Breezy saw the safe looking hole under the tree ahead and ducked down inside throwing her heavy wolf scull aside.

"Breezy? Why are you running around with a skull over your head?" Ari asked from his hiding place.

"I was looking for clues when there was a massive red explosion" Breezy explained.

"That's a big skull you have what is it?" Ari asked

"A wolf I guess" Breezy said catching her breath and calming down "Wow that's a bigger skull she gasped looking at Ari's find "Isn't that one of those pigs from the other night? One of those that Peaches' dad chased off?"

"They were way strong" Ari gasped "What could have killed it?"

"The explosions I guess" Breezy said

"We had better warn the others!" Ari said scampering off, Breezy followed

All the explosions and running did not go unnoticed by Ellie "What's going on?" She said as cherry coloured cubs ran by shouting at each other or screaming. She hoped that all the mayhem meant they had found her brothers but as there was no witty banter Ellie knew there were no possums behind this chaos. "Stop running around and tell me what's going on!" She shouted but soon realised she was talking to herself. "Right then I shall just have to beat you all at your own game!" Ellie had behind her ear her own stash of bombs, being part possum it was second nature to never leave home without a few explosives hidden about ones person. She sucked them up into her trunk and fired them out in a wide circle. As they hit the ground the bombs exploded pink, as they were girly bombs, and sent cubs which were previously running and screaming in all directions back running and screaming towards her. Ellie casually scooped the cubs up and put them on her back they were huffing and puffing and pleased to be a safe height from danger.

"Okay now what's going on?" Ellie asked patently.

The cubs caught their breaths and looked at each other, without the screaming and bangs it was obvious that they had been scared silly by some old bones and each other. They laughed at themselves and each other covered in red cherry juice. "We were finding clues" Tala said to Ellie eventually as her fit of giggles subsided.

"And what did you find?" Ellie asked

"Remember the plan team" Ari whispered as the cubs jumped down to gather the evidence.

"Wo no! I'm not running around in circles after you guys" Ellie said wise to kid's tricks "You have to the count of ten to bring back what you have found"

The cubs scampered off "This will never work!" Aida said "She is too smart, what do we do now?"

"We stick to the plan keep her here till Peaches gets back remember"

"Did anyone tell Lars that?"

"No why?"

"Well he has just dragged ten skulls over to her!"

"Is that all of them?" Ari said as he watched as the littlest cub dragged a small mountain of interesting bones back to Ellie.

"Yes that is all of them!" Tala confirmed

"Wow that cubs fast" Ari said impressed "Now let's hope Breezy can keep the mystery going for long enough, we need to think of a plan B at this rate and quick"

"Rope?" Tala suggested

"Sounds good to me" Ari said as the other cubs nodded in agreement "Let's find what we can while they examine those bones"

Lars proudly dragged his massive find over to Ellie.

Ellie picked up a beaver skull and examined it carefully with a look of poorly concealed horror as she realised what it was.

"This is clue one" Breezy commentated "We can see from the discolouration and wear that it is quite old and quite chewed on"

"Where did you find these kids?" Ellie asked

"They are all over the place" Lars explained "tucked under the bushes, half buried in holes; there's a lot more I can go get them"

"No! No we have enough" Ellie said feeling shaky as she looked into the empty eye sockets of many different species of animal '_but one bright side is there's no possums!_' she thought as she gathered her nerves "Okay play times over kids, time to go Sid wake up because we're headed back!"

The cubs gasped as Peaches needed more time and no one had found anything even close to rope.

"But shouldn't we be examining the evidence to find out how they died?" Breezy said quickly.

"Nope I've seen enough" Ellie said firmly "just get Sid!"

"Sid shook himself awake hearing his name "I wasn't asleep I was thinking" He said defensively before seeing the pile of skulls looking gloomily at him.

The sky darkened as a thick snow cloud drifted over the sun and the small copse of trees became a very creepy place to be.

This was all lost on Sid "Wow look we have a whole zoo here" He said cheerfully jumping up to try a beaver skull on for size.

"A whole dead zoo" Ellie said shaking her head at the sloth "This isn't a safe place to be Sid so lets head back and get Manny" she said.

"Ellie by fearing the unknown you are willingly becoming its prey" Sid began explaining

"There is no way I'm stupid enough to fall for your reverse physiology" Ellie snapped "You stay if you want but me and the kids are getting out of here, and by the way Sid it's a long walk back to camp so think fast" Ellie turned to go but then turned back to count the herd, the cubs were all around the place and it was hard to tell for sure but she was suddenly aware that they were missing two "Where's Peaches and Steve?" She said concerned.

"Hey mom I'm right here!" Came a voice which sounded rather like Peaches to anyone who wasn't Ellie.

Ellie's trunk whipped out into the group of cubs and caught hold of the impersonator by the scruff and held her aloft "Why are you impersonating Peaches?"

The cub stayed silent as did the others.

Ellie eyed them suspiciously.

"Ellie everyone knows that sabers are loyal to a fault to one another" Sid calmly explained "You have to ask in a roundabout kind of way. Kids which way did Peaches defiantly not go?"

All the cubs pointed in separate directions, Sid noted that no one was pointing back the way that they had come, both he and Ellie stared at the small set of mammoth foot prints headed out into the snow.

"Now why would she wander off back the way we came?" Ellie pondered out loud.

"Let's get out of this creepy place and ask her!" Sid said hopping off after Peaches. Everyone followed.

0000

A little earlier... Steve finally caught up with Peaches as she marched back through the snow, like her father she marched fast when on a mission "Hey" he called "Where are you going?"

Peaches couldn't believe it she was being followed by the most stupid kid she had ever met "Go away!" She snapped

"Not till you tell me" Steve said "I can make you tell me you know"

"It's none of your stupid business" Peaches huffed as she marched on

"Right you've asked for this now" Steve threw a cherry bomb at Peaches it went over her head and banged as it hit the snow in front of her.

Peaches had seen her uncle's playing with these often before but still couldn't stop herself from jumping at the noise "Eek" she said stifling a scream as best she could so to look hard. Quickly she recovered herself "Ha you missed!" She said turning boldly to face him.

"No, that was a warning shot!" Steve lied, he opened his paw to reveal five more bombs "This next one won't be though so you better tell me what your big secret is or I'm hitting you with all five of these things at once"

Peaches gasped as that would hurt but she wasn't giving up that easily "I'm not scared of you"

"Well you should be I'm a cave lion and I eat mammoths like you for breakfast"

"You are in my herd and we all ate porridge for breakfast!"

"Well yeah but before when I wasn't in your stupid herd I didn't eat that rubbish and tomorrow I might fancy eating some mammoth again"

"You are talking rubbish I can beat you any day, I've beaten bigger uglier cats than you without even trying!"

"No you haven't I thought you were too much of a goody goody to make up lies like that?"

"I'm not lying I really have, and unlike you I can prove it!" _Whoops_! Peaches suddenly thought "Uh actually I can't, but I can still beat you!" she stammered.

"Come on and prove it then" He Steve said holding up his bombs

Peaches marched over with a defiant look in her eye and stood face to face with Steve "Just so you don't miss this time" She said

Steve knew this was going to hurt his paw as much as it hurt Peaches at this range but he wasn't backing down. He slapped her hard on the shoulder with the bombs. The blast sent them both rolling backwards in a cloud of red cherry juice. They both lay in the snow reeling from the pain and noise of the blast.

Steve was sure he had felt the ground move with the size of the explosion; carefully he looked at his paw. It felt like it had been slapped hard and was covered in bright red juice but it still worked fine. He pulled himself up and looked for his opponent.

Peaches was lying flat in the snow where she had rolled to a stop. Half of her was bright red and her ears were ringing from the noise. Her shoulder throbbed more than she expected it too, so she gathered some snow from the ground and held it on her shoulder till the throbbing stopped. She sat up slowly and noticed Steve a few feet away, he was bright red against the snow, his white fur held the colour of the juice really well which made her giggle.

Steve was furious at the stupid colour of his fur and at Peaches laughing at him, he ran at her determined to teach her a lesson.

Peaches gathered herself up to fight back but was too slow, Steve pounced his best pounce yet knocking the wind out of her and forcing her backwards. Peaches opened her eyes to find she was on the ground with Steve standing over her pinning her down. The sky above him darkened and the red juice in his fur took on a very sinister dark tone as he held up a sharp looking paw full of claws to strike her with.

"You really should have just told me the secret" Steve growled, but his growl was drowned out by a deeper far more menacing rumble. Both kids stopped and looked around, they were alone in the snow but the vast white empty space was far from comforting.

"What was that?" Steve whispered looking scared.

"I don't want to know" Peaches replied, feeling very scared.

They both stayed very still listening for danger and wishing they weren't quite so bright red right now.

"Peaches!" Ellie shouted as she easily spotted the red kids in the distance.

Steve and Peaches breathed a deep sigh of relief as Ellie's comforting voice broke the tension.

"Mom over here!" Peaches shouted trying to get up from under Steve's weight "Get off already" she said shoving him.

Steve jumped off her but as he landed the terrible rumble started up again and this time the ground beneath them gave way. Both Steve and Peaches clung to each other as they fell into a deep dark crevasse.

"Peaches!" Ellie shouted as she watched her daughter fall.

"Ahh !" Sid screamed "What do we do now?" They all hung their heads over the edge looking down into the darkness

Peaches and Steve landed safely in a pile of deep snow at the bottom of the crevasse that they had fallen into. They pulled themselves out looked at each other astonished "Hey we're okay!" Peaches yelled, her voice echoed all around the steep dark walls causing the snowy ledges balancing precariously above her to moan.

Ellie felt the snow beneath her feet tremble; she tore her eyes away from her calf and pulled her herd back from the perilous edge. She ushered everyone along about five feet to the left where she stopped and looked long and hard at the dark break in the snow before them.

"Ellie" Sid asked suspiciously "what are you doing?"

"Well the snow wasn't stable just there" Ellie replied while stooping down as if readying for action

"And it's more stable here?"

"Perhaps but I was more concerned about missing the kids when we jump down"

"Jump down!" Sid said shocked, his voice caused the snow in front of them to disappear emphasizing the steep drop below "Sorry!" He shouted down to the kids below causing even more snow to fall down onto them "Are you nuts?" he said in a quieter tone to Ellie.

"They landed alright, we will too you'll see" Ellie said unconcerned.

Sid crept closer to the edge and looked down; he could only just see the bottom in the shadowy darkness. He glanced back to see Ellie and the kids readying to jump "As leader of this herd I forbid you all from jumping" Sid shrieked

"Relax Manny!" Ellie said sarcastically "It probably looks far worse than it is, come on I bet you anything it will be fun"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Sid said frantically waving his arms to stop Ellie jumping "Kids as leader you have to obey me!" Sid ordered "and Ellie I will tell Manny on you if you jump!"

"Manny doesn't mind a bit of base jumping" Ellie said unworried "After all he has jumped the biggest waterfall in the ice age himself not too long ago"

"Well..." Sid stuttered "He will mind if I tell him there's no parachute" Sid shouted

Ellie wiggled her ears "Yeah there is"

"Then what if I mentioned you let Peaches go first!"

"O, then I guess he might get mad" Ellie said defeated "So what's the alternative o' mighty leader?"

"We look for a safe way down" Sid said looking either way only to see that the crevasse continued much the same far as the eye could see in both directions. "Come on" he said as positively as he could "let's go find that safe way down, probably just out of sight way over there"

"Sid we can't just leave them alone down there" Ellie said "Look we can see for miles and there is no way down"

"Oh yea of little faith!" Sid scolded before calling down to the kids stuck below "Peaches, Snowball we are going to find a way down I need you to take the path to your right so we can stay together" more snow rumbled and fell. "We are going to have to keep communication to a minimum if we don't want you looking like a couple of snow men at the end of this"

Sids words echoed down into the dark depths of the ravine to where Peaches and Steve sat stranded. Peaches shook off the latest thick covering off snow to fall down on her "Okay!" She called up to her uncle "We will go right!" As her words echoed up an avalanche of snow slipped down and rumbled down to cover the two kids again.

"Try not to shout!" Sid called "It makes the snow fall"

"I know" Peaches said a bit annoyed, "we will be quiet"

"Good" Sid called back "See you soon kids! Remember we love you!"

Peaches struggled to climb up out of the new snow fall.

"Sure doesn't feel like it" Steve tutted as he clawed himself up and free from the fallen snow. Both he and Peaches waited to make sure Sid had finally shut up before finally shaking the last of the snow out of their fur for hopefully the last time.

"Didn't think he'd ever shut up" Steve said under his breath "now which ways right?"

Peaches looked at him with total disbelief "It's the side that you lead with of course"

"Not if you're a lefty actually" Steve said

"Are you a lefty?" Peaches sighed

"No"

"Nor am I so it's the side that you lead with dummy" she said picking up her right foot and pointing with it "We go that way"

Steve stood facing Peaches and picked up the paw he led with, it was on the opposite side to Peaches' right.

"My right is that way" Steve said confused.

"I am always right and I say it's that way so see ya" Peaches said as she headed off defiantly in the wrong direction.

The passage a head of her stretched out long and dark, it's wall like sides of snow loomed up on either side creaking under their own weight. Peaches stared hard at them suspicious that they might be moving in on her. She noticed ice crystals sparkling like creepy eyes looking down on her. With a big gulp she pressed on stubbornly determined not to look scared in front of Steve scared. As she slowly progressed forward she listened hard for to hear if Steve was following, not that she cared, only it was some way before she was going to have company again and pretending that your not scared was a real waste of time if he wasn't there to see.

Steve was sure that his right was the right way but had to admit that the worst thing about Peaches was that she always had to be right so as much as he hated to admit it she was probably right this time too. Besides he didn't want to be alone down here

he thought as he reluctantly chose company rather then instincts.

0000

Crash finally stirred, he stretched out and yawned on his bed of luxurious mammoth fur. He felt like a million dollars as he sat up and saw he was almost back at camp already. He beamed a wide toothy grin as he took in his surroundings. Manny's fur was unbelievably soft and shiny, softer and shinier than Ellie's. '_No_' he thought _'it must be because I've been away so long'_ He watched the world go softly by with each of Manny's long smooth strides, the snow was bright in the sun and Manny cast a long elegant shadow across it. Crash felt so good he couldn't keep from commenting "Looking unbelievably fit Manfred have you been working out lately?"

"I lost the poofy fur" Manny said dryly

Crash was glad of that dry tone, anything else would have meant he was on the wrong mammoth "Well it suits you" he remarked happily. He glanced around to see his brother who he could hear snoring behind him, even Eddie's snoring was good this evening, or early morning if you're nocturnal like a possum. Suddenly Crash spotted another possum asleep just beyond Eddie and wrapped in Manny's fur. "Ahhhh!" he cried in horror "What's she doing here?"

"She's your girlfriend?" Manny said confused "I thought you would want her to come along"

Crash stooped close to Manny's ear "But she is evil!"

"That's exactly what I thought when I met you two and I'm not all that convinced now that it's not just you two that's giving your species a bad name"

"Manny before she wakes up dump her in the snow, or better yet a river"

"Or perhaps an active volcano or maybe we could find a predator who's less concerned about his waist line to leave you all with, oh no you've already survived all that already" Manny grumbled

"Manny this is no time for fooling around I'm being serious we have to get rid of her"

"I'm not kidding either your all a huge pain but right now I am more concerned by the fact that I can't find that other pain Sid" Manny came to a stop as he passed through camp for the third time. "I have been searching around this rock for ages now and there's still no sign of that useless sloth, how can he fail to obey one simple instruction to stay put? Ask him to move and he won't shift but ask him to do what he does best at and vegetate for an hour or two and bang like a pro sprinter he's out of sight"

Eddie and Emma slowly woke and gathered all was not well

"I'll help you look" Crash said jumping down to avoid the other two possums "smelling Sid out can't be that hard after all"

"Ah, he had a bath so it is actually quite hard to smell him now" Manny sighed

"Sid's had a bath? Manny's looking fit? Are we in the right universe?" Eddie said rubbing his eyes

"How can you be so rude to your family?" Emma scolded.

"Relax we're always like this" Eddie explained

"Friends and family should be more loving and respectful to each other" Emma corrected him

"Hey then you should be more respectful to me" Crash said bitterly "If you want me to be your brother in law that is"

"You especially have to earn respect!" Emma scoffed

"That will never happen"

"Manny who's side are you on?"

"My own, now come on lets go get Ellie"

"But what about Sid?"

"We haven't met a predator yet that could stomach eating him so let's get Ellie and Peaches and get moving" Manny said decisively.

"Gosh Manny are you really not worried? Or has Sid finally broken you?"

"Nope gone are the days where I worry too much. Sid will turn up eventually so let's go" Manny said headed out

"So" Eddie said ponderously as they walked "Now that you're not going to worry anymore, and well done on that by the way 'cos it was getting a bit old, but what are you going to do instead? Worrying must have taken up maybe 90 percent of your day"

"No that was eating" Crash giggled

"Worrying about what he was going to eat" Eddie added

"Yeah!" Crash laughed and high fived his brother

"Guy's he has just saved you from the snowy plains where we nearly died from exhaustion trying to walk back to your precious herd and this is how you thank him?" Emma snapped

"Relax this is nothing" Eddie explained "Just wait till later when we get our pea shooters out that's when the real fun begins"

"I just can't wait!" Crash squealed

Emma rolled her eyes dramatically at the boys before running over to Manny who was already leaving anxious to find Ellie and Peaches "I can't help feeling bad these boys are so childish, a strong and loyal mammoth like yourself deserves better friends than these two"

"You do strangely get used to them" Manny said unconcerned as he offered his trunk to the small female to climb onto. Many noticed and appreciated how angry she was with the twins bad behaviour, he lifted her up onto his shoulder as he strode off leaving the twins behind.

"Maybe we should use our entire hoard of stink and cherry bombs on Sid later and see if he can wash that off" Eddie said after finding neither scent nor hair of Sid

"We'll be doing him a favour as no one can recognize him without his trademark stink and filth. Any one of these rocks could be him" Crash replied "Oh, Come on Ed Manny's leaving already"

Eddie looked up and saw it was true "Wait!" He called "Manny wait you've forgotten to pick us up slow down!"

Manny and Emma giggled.

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Sorry for missed mistakes, I'm sure there's many

Thanks for reading!


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